"Aboki" (

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

: "Friend") is a song by Nigerian rapper

Ice Prince Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1984) better known as Ice Prince Zamani or just Ice Prince, is a Nigerian rapper, hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing " Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all t ...

. It was released on 28 August 2012, serving as the lead single from his second studio album, '' Fire of Zamani'' (2013). The song was produced by Chopstix and released along with "More". It peaked at number 92 on Afribiz's Top 100 chart.

Meaning

According to Nigerian Sounds, "Aboki" translates to ''friend'' in

; the song celebrates some of the most successful people from Northern Nigeria. Commenting on the single, Ice Prince said, "I'm absolutely excited about my new project; I feel it shows my fans a different side to me. My whole approach to the music, the delivery, my thought process is different from how it was last year."

Music video

The music video for "Aboki" was released onto YouTube on 1 October 2012, at a total length of 3 minutes and 42 seconds. It was directed by Phil Lee in Los Angeles. During the video shoot, Ice Prince was interviewed by one of his associates. Prior to releasing the music video, he uploaded a behind the scenes video of the interview onto YouTube. In the video, Ice Prince talked about the meaning of Aboki and the overall message of his music.

Accolades

"Aboki" was nominated for Most Gifted African West Video and Most Gifted Video of the Year at the 10th Annual Channel O Music Video Awards, which took place at the Walter Sisulu Square, in

Kliptown Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which form ...

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

on 30 November 2013. Moreover, the music video was nominated for Best African Act Video at the 5th edition of the 4Syte TV Music Video Awards, held at the Accra International Conference Centre on 16 November 2013.

Live performances

Ice Prince performed the song at the 2012 edition of the Koko Concert. He also performed the song at the finale of '' Big Brother Africa 8'' on 25 August 2013. Moreover, he performed the song at the 2013 Star Trek concert in Nigeria. Furthermore, he performed the song during his tour of North America, and visit to Zambia on

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Weekend in 2013.

Track listing

; Digital single

Aboki (Remix)

On 25 January 2013, Chocolate City released the alternative version of "Aboki". It features Sarkodie,

Mercy Johnson Mercy Johnson Okojie (; born 28 August 1984) is a Nigerian actress, film director and film producer She went to a Rivers State Secondary School for her secondary education in addition to the Nigerian Navy Secondary School in Port Harcourt, Riv ...

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...

, M.I, and

Khuli Chana Khulane Morule (born August 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Khuli Chana, is a South African Motswako rapper. Early life and career Morule was born in the Mmabatho, North West Province and started rapping motswako at a young age. He w ...

. The song was originally intended to be included on Ice Prince's second studio album '' Fire of Zamani'' (2013), but was ultimately removed from the final track-listing due to reasons that haven't been made public.

Background

In an interview with

Toolz Tolu Oniru, popularly known as Toolz, is a Nigerian radio personality, talk show host, and presenter. She is best known for hosting ''The Midday Show'' on The Beat 99.9 FM. Early life Toolz was born in London on 6 July 1983. She had her primary ...

on NdaniTV's The Juice, Ice Prince described the song as the "biggest African collision ever". When asked about his decision to feature Mercy Johnson, he said, "When Sarkodie sent me the verse, he had a line that said 'Mercy Johnson, will you be my Wifey?' He wanted me to say 'Oh no Charly, she's married' and then he says 'okay, I see' and then continues his rap. For me to do it wouldn't have made sense, you know what I mean. I hit up Mercy Johnson...She sent me a voice note and I put it there." Ice Prince also said he had plans to shoot the music video for the remix. However, the music video was never shot.

Promotion

Ice Prince took to Twitter to announce that he would be featuring Mercy Johnson along with the aforementioned recording artists. Charles Mgbolu of ''

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

'' said that "Fans were anxious to listen to this remix not because of any doubt in the talent of Ice Prince to put together a solid collaboration; rather expectations peaked because Mercy Johnson was in the picture."

Critical reception

Upon its release, the song was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Super Q of 360 Nobs said, "Ice Prince comes alive with the power house remix to the northern flavoured song – Aboki he released last year. He brings together Sarkodie, Mercy Johnson, Wizkid, MI & Khuli Chana to spice the already hawt song up!" Charles Mgbolu of ''Vanguard'' also said, "No doubt, many have hailed this song; calling it a powerful collaboration of the masters of minds. Wizkid, Sakodie, MI, Khuli Chana and of course Ice Prince spat fast paced words that would leave anyone trying to catch up mentally dizzy. It's a hot baked collaboration that further deepened Aboki's intensity and overall quality." On the contrary, those who opposed the song felt Mercy Johnson's involvement in the song was unnecessary; they also thought she was being used as a mere stunt to add publicity to the song.

Track listing

; Digital single

References

{{authority control 2012 songs 2012 singles Ice Prince songs Wizkid songs M.I songs