“They say heavy is the head that wears the crown,” Bella Shmurda reflects, settling into a calm that feels earned during his latest project launch event. “Sanity is about balance, about finding peace in chaos; it is survival music for my people, and a reminder to myself of who I am and where I am going next.”
With his new album, Sanity, the global Afrobeats star enters a transformative chapter, one shaped by self-awareness, resilience and a sharpened artistic vision. Since breaking out in 2019 with the “Vision 2020” remix featuring Olamide, Bella Shmurda has carved a reputation as one of Afrobeats’ most fearless truth-tellers. His music has always carried the grit of the streets, the complexity of Lagos survival, and the spiritual pulse of everyday people. But on Sanity, he shifts his gaze inward, examining what it means to grow while the world watches.
The 16-track project draws from Nigeria’s deep musical heritage, fusing fuji, apala, Afropop and street-pop into a lush soundscape that feels both ancestral and futuristic. It’s Bella at his most grounded—still raw, still honest, but refined by experience. Collaborators like CKay, King Promise, Seyi Vibez, Fola, K1 De Ultimate, Musiliu Ishola, Joshua Baraka, Kunmie and T.I Blaze help shape the album’s emotional range, pairing veteran voices with the energy of a new generation.
Behind the board, Sanity is powered by a heavyweight roster of producers—Magicsticks, Burss Brain, Dibs, Krizbeatz, Larrylanes—who build an atmosphere where his vulnerability and street-born philosophy can coexist. The focus single, “Dangbana Riddim”, embodies the album’s core: raw yet spiritual, rhythmic yet reflective, a testament to resilience that pulses with Bella’s signature intensity.
Tracks like “Sanity” featuring Kunmie, and “Fuji Fusion” with K1 De Ultimate, trace the lineage of the sounds that raised him, while “Bygone” with CKay highlights Bella’s growing mastery of emotional storytelling.
Across the album, he wrestles with fame, responsibility and the pressure of leadership, yet he never loses sight of his roots. That grounding comes from a long journey that began in Ikorodu, Lagos, as the last-born of 10 children in a polygamous home. From cultural dance in primary school to sneaking into studio sessions while his mother worked long shifts, Bella’s relationship with music has always been an act of defiance and devotion. His time at Lagos State University, where he studied History and International Relations, sharpened his worldview and fuelled the consciousness that defines his work today.
Since “Vision 2020”, Bella has released over 80 songs, earned more than a billion streams, and amassed over eight million followers worldwide. Yet Sanity feels like the beginning of a new era, one guided not by hype but by clarity. As Afrobeats continues its global rise, Bella stands as one of its most distinctive voices—an artist who bridges spiritual introspection with street realism. With Sanity, Bella offers more than an album: he offers a compass—for himself, for his fans, and for anyone navigating chaos in search of calm.