Simi And Adekunle Gold: The soulmates of Afrobeats

Simi and Adekunle Gold: Formerly dubbed the King of photoshop, Nigerian singer and songwriter, Adekunle Gold is a man of many talents.

While it is hard to tell which of AG baby’s skills poked Simi’s curiosity, it is obvious that their path needed to cross for them to become the stars they are today.

It would be a stretch to compare them to American power couple, Beyonce Knowles and Jay Z Carter but Simi and Adekunle Gold are similarly a pair to reckon with in the Afrobeats soundscape.

How They Met

Simi And Adekunle Gold’s relationship was a mystery to their fans. The secrecy shrouded around their relationship was a blessing and little did we know that they planned on milking it. The Kososkos got married in a private ceremony on January 9, 2019 and not a single clip or photo of the wedding made it to the internet until they released an official video titled ‘Promise’.

A viral story of how the couple met on Facebook was detailed by Simi in 2020. She revealed that Adekunle Gold used to stalk her on social media before she gave him attention.

Per Vanguard reports, Simi met Adekunle Gold on Facebook and their first meeting was at a show she headlined in Lagos. She further revealed that she never knew Adekunle Gold was a musician like herself during their first meeting, but as ‘King of Photoshop’. They went on to become friends, dated and eventually got married.

While they kept their relationship away from prying fans for almost 5years, they never stopped supporting each other’s works in background. Simi’s touch became very evident in Gold’s artistry at some point –She was influencing his lyrics, running some riffs in background or serving as first critic.

Adekunle Gold noted sparingly in an interview that if Simi does not approve of a track, it never gets released by the singer.

The Meeting point in their music careers

Save for the rebranding era that has touted AG Baby to be one of Nigerian music A-lister, 2016 was also a marque year for the singer whose releases like  “Orente”, “Pick Up”, Gold became a household name. The singer anchored his footing in the Nigerian music scene after winning Best Alternative Song with “Sade” at The Headies. The era wound up in 2016 with his debut album Gold, which peaked at #7 on Billboard’s World Album Chart. The project was singlehandedly engineered by his wife and co-creator, Simi.

Simi in a Pulse interview described working with her husband as one of her favorite moments and a major force behind her career.

“He’s so talented. He’s one of, you know, my favorite writers as well. And, one of my favorite things about him is how he has evolved as an artist and as a writer. And, you know, that energy kind of bounces off of me as well, you know. It’s so easy. Like, if I write something, I’m like, “Oh, babe. What do you think about this?” You know, he does the same thing, and that really helps us to grow as artists.

Simi never fails to tie her success to her husband’s support and influence on her music. For her 2020 project, Restless II, the mother of one noted that the Extended Play was inspired by Adekunle Gold.

I don’t know if I tweeted this but the project was inspired by my husband, Adekunle Gold. I remember him saying that with the direction of this sound, he thinks I should do a R&B EP and I was like “Nigerians don’t listen to R&B like that” and he asked how I knew that when you have not done it. 

Adekunle Gold on the other hand seems quite smitten by his wife. In an interview with Joey Akan in 2020, the ‘High’ crooner described Simi as the biggest miracle that ever happened to him.

In a response to Akan’s question about their marriage, Adekunle said:

Do you see that scripture about when you find a woman, you find a good thing? That scripture is about my life. Bro, every day of my life since I met Simi has been a miracle. I’m grateful that I have a babe that’s very supportive that doesn’t shut me down. She just gets it. I think it’s also helpful that she’s in the trade as well.

The fact that they are masters in the same trade creates a perfect synergy they need in their marriage. Gold added that for moments he had to go clubbing, hang out with industry friends, and probably get caught in squabbles and controversies, Simi remains a solid grip for him.

She understands what it’s like to be out at night, clubbing, trying to promote the song, hanging out with industry friends, and everything. Because things like that would frustrate an artist if they have a spouse that doesn’t get it.

The Marriage tax

In our usual manner, the Burbles team was wound up in an argument of Simi and Adekunle Gold not milking their marriage enough till we had to dissect the success of ‘Duduke’ and how it became a Family track during the pandemic era that had everyone begging for some sort of respite.

Simi reaffirmed her status as one of Nigeria’s most successful musicians with a single music drop, “Duduke,” which enjoyed widespread appeal as the nation went into lockdown in 2020.

Simi who was in the faraway United States with her husband and co-creator in 2020, struck again by starting a Duduke challenge that saw her rock her belly and dance gleefully to the song. This move erupted a nationwide move of pregnant women taking on the challenge while men with potbellies got a break by jumping on the trend as well -The official music video went on to amass a whooping 51m views on Youtube, her highest tally on the video-sharing platform till date.

Adekunle’s Gold Resurgence

Adekunle Gold’s rebrand became evident in 2018 with his hit single, Something Different. Fans were still puzzled as to what to expect from the singer known to be conservative in his craft.

The switch up from Adire to cornrows and more western affinity got the attention of fans who thought AG Baby would outgrow his wife. BTS gist explains that Simi was behind her man during his morph into a more urban and contemporary singer that he is today.

‘Simi made cornrows for me, and that’s what I’m feeling right now. That’s probably what’s going to be on my press picture and I love it. I’m just growing with time and it’s reflecting on everything that I do down to my music.” Gold told Joey Akan.