''Desire'' (often stylized as ''Iyanya vs. Desire'') is the second studio album by Nigerian singer

Iyanya Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk (born 31 October 1986), known by his stage name Iyanya, is a Nigerian Afropop recording artist. Career He rose to fame after winning the first season of ''Project Fame West Africa'' and is best known for his hit single " Kuk ...

. It was released on 6 February 2013 by Made Men Music Group. The album's production was handled by Tee-Y Mix,

D'Tunes Adesanya Doyinsola, better known as D'Tunes, is a multi award-winning music producer, CEO Difference Entertainment, Visionary, arts and fashion enthusiast. He was affiliated with Made Men Music Group and currently has a record label called Differe ...

, Mr. Chidoo, GospelOnDeBeatz and Young D. The album features guest appearances from M.I,

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 ...

D'banj Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (born 9 June 1980), better known by his stage name D'banj, is a Nigerian singer and rapper and the founder of Mo' Hits Records with producer Don Jazzy. He has won several music awards, including the awards for ''Best Af ...

Emma Nyra Emma Chukwugoziam Obi was born in July 18, 1988. She is professionally known by her stage name as Emma Nyra. She is an American-born Nigerian singer, song writer, an actress, and a model. Emma Nyra is a mother of two. Her associate acts inc ...

Tiwa Savage Tiwa Savage (born 5 February 1980) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and performing artist. Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup voc ...

Flavour N'abania Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N'abania or simply Flavour, is a Nigerian singer. He began his musical career as a drummer for a local church. Flavour is popularly known across Africa and the world ...

May D Akinmayokun Awodumila (born 28 December 1984), popularly known as May D, is a Nigerian singer. He was formally signed to R&B duo P-Square's record label Square Records. Biography May D was born Akinmayokun Awodumila in Lagos into a family o ...

Vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

, Tekno and

Yung L Christopher Omenye, professionally known as Yung L (pronounced Young L), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and performer. Early life Yung L was born and raised in Jos, Plateau state. His mother greatly influenced his decision to become a musi ...

. It was supported by six singles—"

Kukere "Kukere" ( Efik: "Don't think/worry") is a song by Nigerian singer Iyanya. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, ''Desire'' (2013). Upon its release, the song peaked at number 1 on Top FM's May Chart, Soundcity's Vie ...

", "Kukere" (Remix), " Flavour", " Jombolo", "

Ur Waist "Ur Waist" is a song by Nigerian singer Iyanya. It was officially released as the second single from his second studio album, '' Desire'' (2013). The song features vocals from Emma Nyra. Music video The accompanying music video for "Ur Waist" wa ...

" and " Sexy Mama".

Background and recording

The meaning behind ''Desire'' stems from the concept of one having an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

. In a nutshell, Iyanya compares and contrasts his dualistic personalities. He said, "Desire was just an

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

guy with a great voice who took time to write music and talk about his feelings but just a few people appreciate Desire. Desire never made so much money. Desire always begged for shows, hustles for everything but Iyanya is global. Iyanya is accepted by all." Iyanya started working on the album after wrapping up his debut album ''My Story''. He got inspired to record the hit single "

" during a visit to his hometown of

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and cre ...

. Iyanya realized the Etighi dance didn't have a unique song to it. In order to popularize the dance, he teamed up with producer D'Tunes to record "Kukere".

Promotion and release

Iyanya and his management team celebrated the successful completion of the album by launching the two-concert series called "Iyanya vs. Desire". The first concert was held at

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

's International Conference Centre on 24 February 2013; it featured additional performances from

, M.I,

Kcee KCEE is a commercial radio station located in Tucson, Arizona, broadcasting on 690 AM. KCEE airs a Christian format and is owned by Calvary Chapel of Tucson, Inc. KCEE's programming is also heard on KAIC (88.9 FM), a station nominally licens ...

, Slo-Flo, Addiction, I-Sick and

Tekno Miles Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu (born 17 December 1992), popularly known as Tekno, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Background and early life Kelechi is from Ivo Local Government Area, Ebonyi State,Nigeria. He was born in Bauchi State int ...

. The second concert was held at the Eko Hotel & Suites on 2 March 2013; it featured additional performances from D'banj, M.I, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage,

Timaya Inetimi Timaya Odon (born 15 August 1980), better known by his stage name Timaya, is a multiple award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter. He hails from Odi, Bayelsa state, South-South Nigeria. He is fondly called the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayels ...

, Flavour N'abania,

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), popularly known by his stage name Davido, is an American-Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. His music blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop. Davido is widel ...

Seyi Shay Deborah Oluwaseyi Joshua (born Oluwaseyi Joshua; 21 December 1985), professionally known as Seyi Shay (pronounced Shay-yee Shay), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. She wrote and produced three songs for the soundtrack to Konami's vi ...

, May D, Bracket, Vector, Iceberg Slim and Lola Rae. Iyanya promoted the album in London by performing at the Indigo02 Arena in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and at the HMV Ritz in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The Indigo02 concert was held on 9 June 2013 while the gig at HMV Ritz was held on 14 June 2013.

Singles

The D'Tunes-produced track "

" was released on 4 December 2011 as the album's lead single. Its music video was directed by Patrick Elis. The

-assisted track "

" was released on 8 July 2012 as the album's second single. Its music video was directed by

Clarence Peters Clarence Abiodun Peters (born 27 July 1978) is a Nigerian music video director, filmmaker and cinematographer. He is the founder and CEO of Capital Dream Pictures, a production company that specialises in the realms of the performing arts, fi ...

. The

-assisted remix of "Kukere" was released on 20 August 2012 as the album's third single. The D'Tunes-produced track " Flavour" was released on 10 November 2012 as the album's fourth single. The music video for the song was directed by Mr. Moe Musa. " Sexy Mama" and " Jombolo" were released on 6 February and 12 June 2013 as the album's fifth and sixth singles, respectively. The former features vocals by

while the latter features vocals by

Critical reception

''Desire'' received generally mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. A writer for TayoTV assigned 7 stars out of 10, saying some of the tracks on the album were "awesome and some were below par." In a less enthusiastic review, Ayomide Tayo of ''

Nigerian Entertainment Today The Netng (Nigerian Entertainment Today) also known as ''NET'' is an online entertainment news organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. It is a leading source of African entertainment, fashion and lifestyle news. Netng formed part of NET Newspaper ...

'' said the album is "nothing more than a product of the times we live in" and called it a "pop driven LP aimed at pleasing a demography that loves beats and dance, at the expense of lyrics". Music blog Jaguda gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, criticizing it for being a "jam-packed project with very shallow and monotonous club and radio friendly cuts which will hold grounds individually but as a body of work, it falls flat on its face." Wilfred Okiche, whose review was on ''

YNaija ''YNaija'' is a Nigerian online content publishing platform, founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams of RED Africa media group. ''YNaija'' launched in May 2010 with columnists and various news sources. It offers news, original content ...

'' website, called the album "mediocre" and said majority of the artists on the project "cannot see past their hunger for fame and today’s club banger".

Accolades

''Desire'' was nominated for Album of the Year and Best R&B/Pop Album at

The Headies 2013 The Headies 2013 was the 8th edition of The Headies. It was held on 26 December 2013, at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos. The show was hosted by Tiwa Savage and Dr SID. Olamide was the biggest awardee of the night, winning three awards from seven ...

Track listing

Personnel

– primary artist * Emma Nyra – featured artist * M.I – featured artist *

– featured artist *

– featured artist *May D – featured artist *Tekno – featured artist *Yung L – featured artist *Tee-Y Mix – producer *D'Tunes – producer *Mr. Chidoo – producer *GospelOnDeBeatz – producer *Young D – producer *Patrick Elis – video director *Mr. Moe Musa – video director *Clarence Peters – video director *Sesan – video director

Release history

References

{{Authority control Iyanya albums 2013 albums Albums produced by GospelOnDeBeatz Albums produced by Mr Chidoo Albums produced by D'Tunes Albums produced by Tee-Y Mix