Wande Coal Didn’t Just Sing: He Spoilt Us. And We’re Still Recovering
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- July 17, 2025
Before the “para oh para oh” generation, before boys started whispering on beats like they dey cry under AC, there was a man who sang like angel with swagger. And his name? Wande Coal.
When Wande Was Untouchable
The year was 2008. Mohits was on fire. Don Jazzy was in his bag. D’Banj was the frontman.
Then Wande Coal dropped Mushin 2 Mo’Hits and boom! The streets shifted. The girls shifted. The entire soundscape of Afrobeat shifted.
He gave us Bumper to Bumper. He gave us You Bad. He gave us Taboo, Kiss Your Hand, Ololufe… Every party had at least 4 Wande Coal songs on rotation. And if the DJ didn’t play them, someone would shout, “Guy! Where Wande dey?!”
He was the vibe. The vocals. The vibe and the vocals. No one could touch him.
That Voice? A National Treasure
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Wande didn’t need auto-tune to sound like magic. He could switch from R&B runs to Fuji chants to dirty street hooks in one breath. He sang heartbreak like a wounded lover. He sang party anthems like a soft cult leader. He sang love like he had kissed every woman in Lagos.
Let’s be honest, there is no voice like Wande’s in the entire industry. Not before. Not now. Not ever.
Songs That Shaped a Generation
- Ololufe Is this Naija’s greatest love song ever? Period. No chorus today can match the raw emotion of that intro alone.
- You Bad Made every guy believe his waist was a weapon. This was fine boy confidence on full blast.
- Bumper to Bumper Shoki. Handkerchief. Belt buckle. If you weren’t dancing, were you even alive?
- Iskaba (with DJ Tunez) Just when we thought he was done, he resurrected. Sleek. Swaggy. Spiritual. Still Wande.
Why Did He Vanish?
Post-Mohits, we lost the full Wande experience. No more annual albums. No endless features. Was it label politics? Was it burnout? Was it just vibes?
All we know is the world moved fast, and somehow, we forgot the king who made us scream in clubs without even dancing.
Underrated or Just Unbothered?
The truth? Wande never begged for attention. He wasn’t chasing trends or fighting for timelines. He was the Black Diamond, polished, private, and powerful in silence.
Was he underrated? Maybe. But maybe, he was just too raw for an industry obsessed with noise.
Who Sounds Like Him Today?
Let’s be real, Fireboy, Oxlade, Chike, Johnny Drille… All of them owe a piece of their sound to Wande’s romantic rawness. He opened the gate for emotional men in music. He made it cool to sing soft things with street energy. Without Wande, Afrobeat would be less romantic and way more robotic.
Legend or No Legend?
In 2023, he dropped the album Legend or No Legend. It didn’t break charts, but it broke silence. He told us, “I’m still here. I still sing better than 90% of them. And I still don’t need your hype.” And we believed him.
Final Word from Desauce Magazine
Wande Coal is the artist we took for granted, but never truly forgot. His songs still slap in 2025. His voice still humbles your favorite’s vocals. And every time a new artist sings sweetly over Afrobeat, know that they’re sipping from a well Wande dug years ago.
So today, we throw it back, not just for vibes but for respect.
Over to You:
What’s your Top 3 Wande Coal songs of all time? Did you ever dance Bumper to Bumper in slippers at a wedding? If Wande came back fully, would you still listen?
Drop your answers in the comments. Let’s remind the streets that Wande is forever.
#ThrowbackThursday #BlackDiamond #WandeCoal #DesauceGist #NaijaLegends
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