Tekno opens up on Cool FM about how obsessively replaying Wizkid’s ‘Ojuelegba’ shaped his own smash hit ‘Rara’ and why he calls it a career favourite.
Some songs don’t just get admired, they get absorbed. That’s what happened to Tekno.
In a candid Cool FM interview, the Nigerian hitmaker revealed that his own chart-topping single “Rara” didn’t just draw a little inspiration from Wizkid’s “Ojuelegba,” it practically shares its DNA. Same chord progression, same feel, he says, calling it the natural result of one great record influencing another.
Tekno didn’t dance around it. He explained that he played “Ojuelegba” so often that its structure eventually seeped into his own songwriting, birthing “Rara” almost as a tribute. He also named the Wizkid classic among his all-time favourite records, not just in Afrobeats, but across any genre.
It’s a rare moment of an artist openly crediting another’s work as a direct creative spark, rather than just a vague “influence.”
To understand why the song left such a mark, it helps to remember what it meant when it dropped in 2014. Produced by Legendury Beatz for Wizkid’s Ayo album, “Ojuelegba” turned a gritty Surulere neighbourhood into a symbol of struggle, memory, and eventual triumph. Its raw honesty and irresistible melody made it an instant anthem, one that helped push Nigerian pop onto the global stage.
That global reach became literal in 2015, when Skepta and Drake hopped on a remix, introducing the record to entirely new audiences abroad.
What makes Tekno’s confession land even harder is the parallel: just as “Ojuelegba” became a defining chapter for Wizkid, “Rara” did the same for Tekno, cementing him as one of Nigeria’s most consistent hitmakers.
More than a decade later, both artists are still building. Wizkid recently thrilled fans with a standout set at Afro Nation Portugal 2026, while Tekno is riding the release of his new eight-track project, Where Did Love Go, which sees him experimenting across genres.
