Underground Unreleased

Okwuchi Okaa
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Underground Unreleased is a Nigerian music podcast hosted by Wuchi and co-hosted by Wale. We premiere unreleased music, spotlight underground talent, and say the things about the industry that most people won’t. New episodes every Sunday at 6PM CST and Monday at 12AM WAT.

  1. 1 day ago

    The Lazarus Project ft. Laz

    On this episode of Underground Unreleased, Wuchi sits down with Afrofusion’s next big story, Laz, fresh off signing to Wande Coal’s Black Diamond Collective. We recorded this whole conversation once, lost it to a botched platform, and brought it back from the dead. But since the guest's name is Lazarus, we leaned all the way into it (00:00). Laz breaks down the 20 seconds of silence on "Patience" that had me convinced it was a listener test (03:08), before taking us all the way back to a childhood split between Sierra Leone and Nigeria in a house full of Brenda Fassie and Bonnie M, where the same parents who filled it with music became the first people to try to shut it down (06:00). We trace the lyric books and golden-age Naija rap that shaped his ear through the uni years and his first recorded song (15:30), the six years he spent as a ₦60K-a-month spa manager before running to Lagos on a ticket a friend paid for (23:45), and the random writers' camp that turned into Wande Coal himself asking "Where is Laz?" (41:00). He gets candid on what signing to Black Diamond actually looks like and why melody is expensive (48:00), the real stories behind "Body Language" and "Patience," which weren't pulled from one relationship (51:00), and whether Afrobeats is really dead (1:00:00). We close with raw, no-PR reviews of submissions from LeMon, MJ Papi, Biola, and MarellaXVL (1:04:00), plus one last word for anyone still grinding: don't give up (1:18:00). And much more. Follow Laz:Instagram / X / TikTok: @_itzlazStream Laz's "Body Language" EP: Spotify -https://open.spotify.com/album/0k36RIxFmkZG0OIgHGfr5j Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/body-language/1882876223 Follow Underground Unreleased:Instagram / X / TikTok / YouTube: @unreleasedng Artists: send your music for review to unreleasedng@gmail.com

  2. 19 Jul

    Sun-Kissed and Tell

    Episode 29 - Back on the pod and we came in hot. The "sun-kissed" debate kicks things off before we get anywhere near the music (0:00). We handled it appropriately. 100 lashes, town square.World Cup season had us all the way in: Messi's silence on his teammates' antics, England vs. Argentina, and an Argentine restaurant with an unreal name (5:00). Yeah; we're rocking with Spain. Olodo Uprising, round two (9:13): why the comments missed the point, and the hypocrisy of hopping on Carter Efe's platform right after clowning Peller for the exact same thing. Mid-year album check (24:47): Asake, Omah Lay, Wande Coal, and the uncomfortable truth that six months in, nobody has an Album of the Year. Omah Lay promised the best Afrobeats album in 20 years and ghosted his own rollout. There's a funding problem nobody wants to name. Davido talk (31:50): the No 11/Toye situation, why "upcoming" isn't a compliment, and a first listen to the new single before it drops. Wale also has some advice for Toye. Tyla's "recorded around monkeys and bugs" comments got exactly the reaction you'd expect (48:36). The Odumodublvck vs Blaqbonez ₦2B lawsuit (52:41) and why picking and choosing who you call out kills your own argument. Closing with underground reviews and a premiere: Kaya by Toje (unreleased), Hold Me by Biola, plus cuts from TR Gobrazy and unreleased Latino Perrico (1:06:29). Follow @unreleasedng on TikTok, X, Instagram & YouTube.

  3. 7 Jul

    Olodo Uprising

    We survived June. No studio all month (long story) but you kept the socials so warm it barely felt like we left. Thank you for that. Back on video and we came back heavy (0:00). A listener we gifted money to back in The Irregular Show days wrote in. He's a lawyer now, seven figures a month… and he brought the coldest Ayra Starr take we've ever read on this pod (1:50). So we sat in it: the Starr Girl cover (is that AI?), the American crossover play, and whether she's really in a dip or just aiming at an audience that isn't us (4:05). Then the World Cup. The South Africa hate-watch, where we watched every game for the wrong reasons (26:38), plus Davido's flowers for the Bring Them Home jacket, doing what the quiet ones won't (33:19). Then the big one: the Olodo Uprising (36:24). What YCee actually said on Cool FM versus what the blogs ran with, the Peller of it all, Jarvis's point nobody wants to answer, and the part that doesn't get said enough: there are people with advanced degrees struggling to get jobs in this country, so who exactly is the olodo? We close with a full King Coal review. Wande put his own signees on the album and still nobody outsang him (59:52). Then MYST's "Dynamite," the first Naija girl group in about 15 years (1:08:36), and Put You On (1:15:30). Put You On this week: Dafe – Mugshot, Emijay – Papilo, Iver Rivers – Sinner, plus one unreleased record we might get in trouble for. Follow @unreleasedng on TikTok, X, Instagram & YouTube. Artists: send us your unreleased music. Rate us 5 stars wherever you're listening, and pull up in the comments.

  4. 17 Jun

    Can't Look Away

    Mr P dropped "Can't Look Away" and the internet is gassing it up - except the lyrics, the vocals, and the cover art all scream AI. I break down exactly why, why Davido's co-sign doesn't change that, and why an OG with Mr P's catalogue shouldn't need a robot to write his hooks. Then I get into the escalating Qing Madi situation - her TikTok Live callout of JTON's CEO, the EP that got pulled from streaming, and the second lawsuit from Richie Music Empire claiming she breached an earlier contract before ever signing with JTON. Two label heads, two lawsuits, one artist. I lay out where I stand and why. Follow the podcast on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter: @unreleasedng

  5. 2 Jun

    Cemetery Chillin

    Ody joins Wuchi for a different kind of episode on Episode 26. It's time for the P-Square brothers to hang up their individual music careers and we explain exactly why. Davido dropped a snippet too, and we discuss whether he's rewarming rice. We also talk about the company he keeps: what Cubana Chief Priest's "Cemetery Chillin" moment at a funeral says about his character, and how being surrounded by people like that might be costing Davido creatively. Then it's Qing Madi; we break down the difference in songwriting between I Am the Blueprint and the new Barely Legal EP, and what that shift tells you about where she's heading. We also get into something bigger: whether the decline of Hip-Hop is part of why Afrobeats feels stale right now, and how the early 2000s Hip-Hop influence shaped the Afrobeats artists we grew up on. Before you dive in, follow us on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram: @unreleasedng

  6. 25 May

    State of Mind

    Episode 25 - We're back on video and Wale took over song selection.We revisit the South Africa boycott stance after a listener pushed back. The argument: you can't selectively condemn - if Nigerian artists stay silent on domestic issues, advocating for boycotting SA artists is hypocritical. We unpack the accompanying receipts and discuss whether it's the proof the argument needed and why holding the people advocating for accountability to a higher standard than the people perpetrating violence can come off as its own kind of dishonest.Then it's Drake. Iceman is out and we sit with it. We discuss how the impact of the beef on Drake shows on the album and whether Drake does the telling of his experience justice. We also address some of the criticism of the album and our expectations of Drake's next album should he be independent.Afrobeats artists are leaning on AI for cover art and visualizers and it's getting harder to ignore. We name names and discuss whether or not their usage of AI is justified and acceptable and under what circumstances.The final discussion involves Wuchi addressing some of the criticism he received for his review of Asake and Wizkid's REAL EP and he details why his critique has been vindicated.The episode ends with a review of two song submissions.Heads up - next episode is audio-only. Find it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Follow us on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram: @unreleasedng

  7. 16 May

    Pan-African Smoke

    South Africa is in the streets - mobs, machetes, students being chased out of schools, two Nigerians dead...and Nigerian artists are nowhere to be found. We open with the full timeline of the xenophobic attacks, the political response on both sides, and the question that keeps going unanswered: where is the solidarity? Then we turn to the music. Asake's Flaunt interview tells you more about M$NEY than the album does; we break down what he actually said and what it means for where he goes from here. Seyi Vibez called Adekunle Gold wack on Twitter. AG posted his North American orchestra tour link and kept it moving. We discuss. Rihanna used Ayra Starr's music in her Met Gala recap and the internet has been at war ever since, so we get into what's really up and what the July timeline actually tells you about who's playing chess here. We close on Burna Boy and Shakira as the official FIFA 2026 World Cup song and what it means that Nigerian music is the global soundtrack of a tournament Nigeria didn't qualify for. Put You On features Ema Onigah, Roju, Makinde, and Tay Iwar

  8. 3 May

    SHOW ME THE M$NEY

    Episode 23 - Asake dropped M$NEY on May 1st and we were ready. The verdict? Album-making culture in Afrobeats is in trouble and unfortunately, M$NEY is exhibit A. We break down why one of the genre's most consistent artists delivered what might be his weakest project yet, what the absence of Olamide's pen reveals, and why being rich and being creative don't always go together. Then we get into Davido publicly mocking DJ Tunez over the Burna Boy situation - what that says about where the Big 3 dynamic actually stands right now. We also discuss Elestee parting ways with Mavin Records, why it didn't work out, and what her path forward looks like as an independent artist. We close with our Put You On segment.

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About

Underground Unreleased is a Nigerian music podcast hosted by Wuchi and co-hosted by Wale. We premiere unreleased music, spotlight underground talent, and say the things about the industry that most people won’t. New episodes every Sunday at 6PM CST and Monday at 12AM WAT.

Information

  • Creator
    Okwuchi Okaa
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Okwuchi Okaa
  • Show Website
    Underground Unreleased

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