Ásake’s Lagos Concert Faces Furious Backlash Over ₦300k Tickets
By: Abudu Olalekan
The noise around Asake Lagos concert didn’t start on stage. It started on phone screens. One screenshot. One price. Then boom. Everywhere.
Ásake’s Lagos Concert Faces Furious Backlash Over ₦300k Tickets
It’s messy. Real messy. Ásake’s homecoming? Supposed to be glory. Joy. Lagos buzzing. Instead? Anger. Pure anger.
Fans are roasting FlyTime Fest online. Why? That price tag. ₦300,000. For one night. One show. Too steep. Way too steep.
The singer – once the “street king” – now stands at the center of a storm. His Lagos return concert, part of FlyTime Fest 2025, is shaking. Hard.
The Boom That Went Bust?
Ásake’s journey feels like a dream. From backstreet corners to global stages. Fans loved that story. They followed him since day one. Through the grit. The raw beats. The “Sing to the Moon” days. Now? They feel slapped.
Social media exploded last week. X, Instagram, TikTok. All on fire. Videos. Memes. Posts screaming betrayal. “₦300k? For who?” one fan wrote. Another compared it to their yearly rent. “My school fees is ₦250k. This ticket no dey make sense.”
Even die-hard supporters – the ones with tattoos, the ones who know every lyric – are asking: “Is this still our Ásake?”
The Price of “Luxury”
FlyTime Fest defends it. They say costs rose. Security. Lights. Sound. Inflation too. “We ain’t charity,” a source muttered. “Concerts ain’t like before. It’s big now. Global.”
True? Maybe. But fans don’t care. They recall 2022. Ásake played smaller venues. Tickets hit ₦50k. Still painful, but doable. Now? Six times that.
Some industry folks argue this is Nigeria’s new normal. “Go to Kenya. Tanzania. Prices there dey high too,” one promoter said. “We catching up with the world.”
But here’s the catch. Ásake isn’t just any artist. He’s their guy. The one who sang about Lagos streets. The struggle. The hustle. Pricing out the same people who built him? It stings. Deep.
The Numbers Tell Stories
Let’s break it down. ₦300,000. What could that buy?
3 months of electricity bills for a small family.
A semester’s tuition in some universities.
Flight tickets to Dubai.
Fans are doing the math. “I followed him when he dey play for free under bridges. Now he too big?”
A Lagos-based accountant, Chika, posted: “I got 4 tickets last year for ₦120k total. This year? I no dey buy even one. Sorry, king, but we no dey same level again.”
The Bigger Risk
It’s not just about one show. Industry watchers whisper worries. Low turnout? Possible. Bad vibes? Guaranteed.
“If the core fans no dey come, the arena go feel empty,” said a music analyst. “Even if rich folks fill seats, the energy no dey the same. Ásake feeds off the crowd. If the crowd no dey ‘his people’, the magic gone.”
Merchandise sales might crash too. Why buy a ₦25k shirt if you skipped the show? Sponsors could get cold feet. FlyTime’s reputation? On the line.
“We Understand” – But Do They?
FlyTime released a statement. Calm tone. “We value our fans. Prices reflect current realities.” They didn’t lower the cost. Just added some “early bird” discounts. Too little. Too late.
Ásake stayed quiet. Some fans speculate. “He no dey control the organizers?” Others say he approved it. No one knows. Silence speaks loud though.
The Street vs. The Spotlight
This clash isn’t new. Nigerian music grows. Costs grow. But when does growth become alienation?
Ásake’s story was simple. Boy from Yaba. Made good. His fans felt part of that journey. Now? It’s like he jumped a fence. Left them outside.
A fan page admin put it raw: “We no dey say he no fit charge. But ₦300k? For a homecoming? No. That one hurt.”
What’s Next?
Tickets sales numbers will tell. If they flop, FlyTime might panic. Lower prices? Unlikely. They’ve painted themselves in a corner.
Some fans plan protests outside venues. Others just ghosting. Radio silence. No buys. No shares.
Ásake’s team might rethink future pricing. Or double down. Call it “premium experience.” But trust? Once broken, hard to fix.
Final Thoughts
It’s sad. Really sad. A triumph turned into tension. A celebration now a debate.
Ásake’s music still hits. His talent? Undeniable. But the gap between artist and audience? It’s widening. Fast.
Will the concert sell out? Maybe. Rich fans might fill seats. But will it feel like a homecoming? Or just a transaction?
Only Lagos knows. And right now, Lagos is angry.
