"Mad Over You" is a song by Nigerian singer

Runtown Douglas Jack Agu (born 19 August 1989), better known by his stage name Runtown, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer. Biography Runtown was born on 19 August 1989 in Enugu but grew up partly in Abuja and Lagos, where he finished his ...

, released on November 4, 2016. It was primarily produced by

Del B Ayodele Basil, better known as Del B, is a Nigerian (composer) sound engineer, record producer. and songwriter. He is best known for producing Kcee's hit single "Limpopo", which went on to be voted Song of The Year at the 2013 edition of The Head ...

, along with production assistance from Runtown and T-Spize. Described as a love-themed ballad, "Mad Over You" is a blend of Ghanaian

highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...

and R&B. It debuted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' Twitter Top Tracks chart, marking the singer's first appearance on the chart. As of March 2017, "Mad Over You" garnered over 2 million streams on the

streaming media Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

service

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Background and music video

In March 2017, Runtown told Pulse Nigeria's Joey Akan he recorded "Mad Over You" while embroiled in a contractual dispute with Eric Many Entertainment. Two weeks prior to his U.S tour in mid-2016, he worked with

on musical ideas for the song. Del B told Akan "Mad Over You" was the last of two songs recorded during his session with Runtown.

Vanessa Mdee Vanessa Hau Mdee (born 7 June 1988), is a Tanzanian singer, rapper, television personality and radio host. Mdee is popularly known for being the first ever Tanzanian MTV VJ. She later rose to prominence as a radio and TV host, hosting ''Epic Bon ...

was present in the studio when Del B and Runtown worked on the song's instrumental and flute, respectively. Runtown later contacted TSpize to provide guitar work. Lyrically, the song is about a special Ghanaian girl Runtown admires. Musically, it has a bouncy rhythm, infused with percussion, guitar and a flute. In an email exchange with ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' magazine, Runtown said the song is inspired by African beauty. The accompanying music video for "Mad Over You" 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 ...

and was uploaded to YouTube on December 7, 2016. It features a small group of women, who displayed several different fashion pieces and body art. A writer for ''Joss'' magazine criticized the music video for not complementing the song's lyrics, saying the "choice for location in itself is an epic failure."

Critical reception

Gabriel Myers Hansen, whose review was posted on the E News Ghana website, described the song as a tribute to Ghana and said it "makes it into favorable places in history because of the sheer majesty of its swing–more so in the heart of the young Ghanaian woman, who can recite word for word, even without having actively committed Runtown’s song to memory." Joey Akan of Pulse Nigeria called it a "mid-tempo song which can coast through you initially, but eventually grows and envelopes you with its synths, mellow drum patterns and more."

TooXclusive tooXclusive is a Nigerian music and review website. Launched in 2010 by Olutayo "Tyler" Duncan Sotubo. This website is notable for organizing its yearly tooXclusive Online Music Awards. They pride their establishment as the number one source f ...

's Jim Donnett praised Runtown for adapting the Ghanaian

Alkayida Alkayida (''also spelt'' Ashanti tw, Alkaida), also known as Akayida, is a Ghanaian dance with an emphasis on side to side moves, incorporating upper and body gestures, and encouraging group routines as well as individual competition. Alkayida d ...

sound to deliver a hit.

Covers and live performances

In December 2016, Nigerian musician

Mr Eazi Oluwatosin Ajibade (born 19 July 1991), better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian-born, Ghana-based singer. He is a pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressio ...

released a cover of the song. In January 2017, Ghanaian singer NanaYaa released her rendition of the song. In December 2016, Runtown performed the song at Citi FM’s Decemba 2 Remember concert. Moreover, he performed the song at Sarkodie's annual Rapperholic concert. In April 2017, Runtown performed the song at the season finale of ''

Big Brother Naija ''Big Brother Naija'', formerly known as ''Big Brother Nigeria'', is a Nigerian reality competition television series, based on the Big Brother television franchise, in which, contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a large cash pr ...

''. Jamaican dancehall artist Ding Dong covered the song in October 2017, pairing his version with a dance move he created called Lebeh Lebeh.

Accolades

"Mad Over You" was nominated for Best Single at the 2017

Nigeria Entertainment Awards The Nigerian Entertainment Awards were established in New York City in January 2006. The awards recognize the contributions of African entertainers with a special focus on Nigerians. Ceremonies * 2006 Nigeria Entertainment Awards * 2007 Nigeria ...

. It was also nominated for Best Pop Single and Song of the Year at

The Headies 2018 The Headies 2018 was the 12th edition of The Headies. It was held on May 5, 2018, at the Eko Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Nigerian comedian Bovi and singer Seyi Shay hosted the ceremony. After shortlisting thousands of entries ...

. Moreover, the song earned Runtown a nomination in the Viewer's Choice category at the aforementioned awards show.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Runtown songs Song recordings produced by TSpize Nigerian afropop songs