ON THE RISE
Nigerian-American singer and performer, Ase Odin whisks global audiences to an uplifting, relaxing soundscape with his single, “No Wahala No Problem (Hakuna Matata).” Delivering a universal sound that crosses countries and cultures, he reminds us to take a break from our problems and enjoy a moment of relaxation.
Born in Benin City, Nigeria, Ase Odin has been surrounded by music throughout his life. His early influences helped shape his unique sound, a blend of Afrobeat, reggae, soul, and storytelling. After decades of dedication to his profession, Ase Odin is reunited with music and eager to share it with audiences from all over.
It’s no wonder Ase Odin found his way back to music—it’s inescapably in his genes. His father was a local government police officer who played for events and special occasions as part of the band. “My father and I were transferred to the west of Nigeria when I was a child. He was so good at playing saxophone and trombone, so they gave him a promotion. What I loved most is since I was the only one there (my mother stayed in our hometown), he would take me to practice with him. After practice, we had the pleasure of cleaning the instruments with tools; he took pride in that. I became so involved in music,” shares Ase Odin.
Not only was his father a respected musician, his mother also came from a group of family singers. “My uncles and aunts were tribal singers and sang in our tribal language,” he adds. Because instruments were hard to come by, a young Ase Odin created his own out of sticks and spoons and would create his own rhythms and beats out of creativity.
Before he came back to music, Ase Odin followed a path that was expected and hoped of him. “When we come to America from developing countries, our parents at home want us to have an academic career job. You cannot grow up in most of these countries and want to be an actress or videographer or singer. They mold you to need an academic career like a doctor, pharmacist, engineer, or lawyer. When the opportunity came for me to go to school, I had to create something I could fall back on and raise a family while taking care of my extended family back in Nigeria. So, people ended up doing things they didn’t love or weren’t talented in,” explains Ase Odin.
Living in Seattle, he became a pharmacist, providing support to his family and relatives overseas. Now, close to retiring, it’s finally time for Ase Odin to pursue his own passion: his long beloved music.
Thus far, Ase Odin has released two singles, “No Wahala” and “Mama Mama.” His next single, “How Far,” is pending release.
“No Wahala” is a reflection of the everyday struggle we all share. “If you look at people—you and I—everyday people, no matter where you are, we’re running a rat race all over the world. Every day is a struggle. Sometimes we feel like our whole life is a time crunch. We all just need to chill and get away—take a vacation, some time to relax and take it easy and be at peace with ourselves.”
According to Ase Odin, it doesn’t matter where you come from or how much you get paid, we all have challenges within ourselves and our homes, but we can choose to look at it from a different angle and think “Tomorrow is another day, a different day.”
When it came to writing “No Wahala,” Ase Odin first crafted the message, then created the beat that went with it. “I listened to different types of sounds when I was younger. When a situation happens, I find the beat comes and then I match it with the song. I figure out where I can fit the hook or chorus line, then match and melt, making sure the message, beats, and rhythm are aligned.”
The more Ase Odin creates, the more he finds himself experimenting and exploring. “I like getting out of the box,” he adds. “I’m always pushing boundaries with how a song should sound in my head.” To create his music, Ase Odin turns to his home studio, where he’ll put down drums, bass, treble, and any highlights he hears in the process. “I listen to how I want it to sound and play it over in my head,” he shares. “If I think an actual guitar would sound better, I get real musicians to add to the recording.”
Ase Odin’s greatest hope is to inspire others through his music. “We all have different personalities and pathways in life, different destinies. We will all turn out differently. What I consider success is the happiness that comes from lifting people up. When we all have a story to tell together—that’s my happiness.”
“Everyday people can relate to my music and feel good about themselves in that they’re not alone. We’re all going through it.”
Make sure to stay connected to Ase Odin on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
ON THE RISE
As Belle & Sebastian share their buoyant 2026 Scotland World Cup anthem ‘It Only Takes One Lion’, frontman Stuart Murdoch has spoken to NME about capturing the feeling back home and his hopes for the team since childhood.
Released today (Tuesday June 2), the Scottish indie heroes’ bid for their nation’s tournament anthem was written after the team’s surprise 4-2 qualifying win against Denmark.
“I felt like we were watching history in the moment, like the hand of God from the old National Lottery adverts was pointing at us,” Murdoch told NME about that game-changing victory. “It was meant to be. Scotland aren’t a terrific team and Denmark are better, but it just felt that day that Scotland were destined to win. Three out of the four goals were things of beauty.”
Produced by and co-written with Pete Ferguson and premiered at the band’s recent London Royal Albert Hall show as part of the anniversary tour for their classic first two albums ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’, the soaring song is intrinsically Belle & Sebastian as it morphs from a hymn to a an orchestral disco jam as Murdoch sings of a nation’s hopes and his own boyhood dreams.
NME spoke to Murdoch from the band’s North American tour, where we found him in a graveyard in Texas. “I was just looking for a park because Austin is a pretty scary place downtown now, so I’ve ended up in the Texas Cemetery,” he shared via Zoom.
Was there anyone famous buried there?
“I was looking around and I found the founder of Austin City Limits, which is pretty cool as that’s where we’re playing tonight. I’m looking at one now and it just says, ‘Martin: he loved the law’. Then underneath it says, ‘Billie Louise: she loved the lawyer’.”
We joke that there’s the opening to a Belle & Sebastian song if there ever there was one. “It’s great! It’s given me inspiration.”
For now, read the rest of interview with Murdoch below as he tells us about Scotland’s chances, 30 years of hurt, if fans will be singing it at the top of their lungs in Canada, the US and Mexico this summer, and what’s next for the band.
NME: Hello Stuart. Here we are with ‘It Only Takes One Lion’ Who needs three?
Stuart Murdoch: “Who needs three? Good question. I wouldn’t know!”
What’s the mood been like in Scotland since you qualified?
“It’s funny. I’ve noticed this everywhere: with the World Cup there’s a mixture of cynicism and anticipation. When the actual tournament starts, everyone will get excited about it. Because of FIFA, the peace prize, the ticket prices, people seem quite down about it. I found that in Mexico. They were quite fed up with the general hype about it. I’m in the States just now and you shouldn’t believe all the hype: people are people. The States are just as ‘great’ as ever. We love coming here, we love the cities. The general sense of North American optimism will make for a good tournament.”
“With Scotland though, people will definitely be excited about it. You have to understand, it’s been 30 years since Scotland qualified so I think everybody and their dog has written a song for the team.”
How do you meet the challenge of penning a World Cup anthem, when there have been so many legendary bangers and absolutely shite duds?
“I never planned it. I woke up with a tune in my head and a feeling. That’s the way it should always be for songs. I couldn’t control myself and it was quite straight-forward. I wrote this initial bit about how I felt about the current World Cup team and the qualifying game. It was more introspective.
“When it starts off with, ‘The days are dark and long…’, it’s just my general feeling about football. I’ve been going to see my own team quite a lot recently. It’s my little anthem for how I feel about football and following Scotland for the last 50 years, just the ups and downs. It’s quite a heartfelt thing. When I was eight or nine, the Scottish team meant so much to me, it the thing I was most invested in. There’s a line in there about how I used to memorise the whole squad before ‘78 and 82.”
Tell us about lyric: “This is Scotland, where everyone knows you start with nothing… where you can join an army for peace”…
“My wife made the video for it and she said, ‘I’m not sure I like that line about everyone starting with nothing’. Our first game is against Haiti and they really have nothing. Their country is pretty poor and they’re going through hard times. It was almost a throwaway line and I’m not sure what I meant by it, but in a footballing sense every game starts with nothing. Even if it’s against Brazil, you’ve always got a chance!
“The army refers to The Tartan Army, which has really been quite a remarkable institution for the past 30 years. We changed from drunken buffoons that used to wreck things to this excellent supporting brigade.”
It’s not your standard football sing-along. Can you see it being sung in the terraces?
“I’m not sure, I didn’t cynically design it for that. Many people have said to me in the past, ‘None of your songs have a chorus, you need to write one’. ‘This is Scotland’ is a chorus! They things need to happen organically. I’m sure the fans will still be singing ‘Yes sir, I can boogie’ for years to come.”
What do you actually think of Scotland’s chances right now?
“With the last Euros, they maybe got stage fright or didn’t have that tournament experience. I think Andy Robertson [captain] will be telling them, ‘We really need to produce our best stuff’. If they do and we see them actually playing football, then I don’t really care about the results that much. I just want to see Scotland exceeding our expectations of them. That Denmark game was so crazy that everything after just feels like a bonus.”
If miracles do happen and Scotland make it to the final, how will you celebrate? A free gig in Glasgow?
“Of course, yes! Free everything. If we even got close, I think the whole country would shut down for a year and the GDP would drop. We’d go into a massive recession but no one would care.
“We were playing a gig in Mexico City and I told the crowd, ‘It’s you and us, Mexico and Scotland in the final’. Mexico have never really got close either. I told them it would be five goals a piece, even after everyone takes a penalty and we have to share the trophy. I would settle for that.”
You released two albums in quick succession with 2022’s ‘A Bit of Previous’, 2023’s ‘Late Developers’ and then your debut novel Nobody’s Empire in 2024. You’ve been busy! Is there any progress on new material?
“We went through a period where we recorded a lot and we said, ‘Let’s not record for a while and give ourselves a couple of cycles off’. We’re doing these 30th anniversary shows so we’re just going to lean on the back catalogue and cruise for a while. We’re doing a year on and a year off so everyone can focus on different things.
We’re not looking at new Belles stuff for a while. I’m meant to be developing Nobody’s Empire into a film, so that’s my next task. It’s a long way off from being made but I’m going to write the script for that.”
Scotland’s first World Cup tournament match is against Haiti on Sunday June 14, before they go on to play Morocco on Friday June 19 and Brazil on Wednesday June 24.
The band’s ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ anniversary tour continues throughout the summer, performing the iconic albums in full during across the UK, Europe, North America, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Visit here for tickets and more information.
