FOLA had already finished 9 when “2am in toronto” found its way back to him. He was in Toronto, it was 2 a.m., and he was scrolling through his archive when he landed on a song that, he told The Native, “was not even one of my favourite songs. It was not in contention for the songs I was going to pick for the album.” He kept playing it anyway, felt it was missing “some spice,” and sent it to Davido, who told him before he had even recorded his part: “Oh my days, I killed you on this song.”
That song is how America is meeting the album. On Billboard’s US Afrobeats Songs chart for 9’s first week, “2am in toronto” comes in at No. 7, the highest of the ten FOLA songs on the list.
Ten, on a chart that now has 25 places.
Billboard started the chart with Afro Nation in 2022 as a ranking of 50 songs, and it stayed that size until this week. Half the places meant a hard week for nearly everyone else. Seyi Vibez had 13 songs on last week’s chart and is down to two, “GTA” at No. 16 and “Back 2 U” at No. 19. Wizkid had “Money Constant” and his Jorja Smith feature “Alive” in the 40s and has nothing on this one. Davido’s own “Already Falling” and “I Know Who I Be” are gone too, so both places he still holds are ones he shares with FOLA: “2am in toronto,” and “B4 B4” with Mayorkun at No. 18.
If you followed 9 at home, the American list looks a little different. The morning the album came out, Nigeria went to the five songs FOLA had already released, and “2am in toronto” started at No. 51 on Apple Music. In the US, seven of his ten entries are songs new to the chart, led by “2am in toronto,” “miss u ii (nriri)” at No. 9 and “waf,” the May leak, at No. 14. The bottom five places, Nos. 21 to 25, are all his, with “how many?,” “awade,” “my type” with BNXN and “crime,” his take on 2Baba’s “If Love Is a Crime,” lined up under “it’s over.” The older singles moved too: “treat u right” with Ayra Starr climbed from No. 28 back to No. 10, and “attention!” reached a new high at No. 15. “fine ting,” the April single, didn’t make it.
None of them reached the top six, which didn’t move at all. DJ Goja, Jason Derulo and Melody’s “Mi Chico” is still No. 1, with Tyla’s “Water” and “Chanel” right behind it.
The album itself entered Billboard’s World Albums chart at No. 13. FOLA told The Native he wanted Davido on the song because, after “B4 B4,” “there’s still more to come.” This week, both songs they have made together sit inside the top 20.