Jah Guide Me

Last updated

"Jah Guide Me"
Jah Guide Me.webp
Single by Darey
from the EP Way Home
Released14 August 2020
Genre
Length2:48
Label Livespot
Songwriters
Producer Pheelz
Darey singles chronology
"Pray for Me" and "Asiko Laiye"
(2015)		"Jah Guide Me"
(2020)		"Jojo"
(2020)
Music video
"Jah Guide Me" on YouTube

"Jah Guide Me" is a song by Nigerian singer Darey. It was released on 14 August 2020 as the lead single from his only EP Way Home (2020), marking his first single in five years. [2] The song was co-written and produced by Pheelz. [3] The song mixes Afropop, R&B, and reggae, and centers on seeking guidance during hard times. [1]

Contents

Background

"Jah Guide Me" serves as the first single released by Darey in five years, following "Pray for Me" featuring the Soweto Gospel Choir. The song was made available for pre-order on 11 August 2020. He promoted the single's release on his Instagram handle, stating "Just like many of you, 2020 has so far, brought a handful of uncertainties my way. But the fact is that God isn't surprised. So I guess it's up to all of us to submit and be led.... #JahGuideMe #Aug14 LINK IN BIO TO PRE-ORDER." [4] [5] In an interview with Daily Trust , Darey said that the song drew its ideas from the economic strain people faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and from the way many turn to God during difficult moments. [6]

Composition and themes

"Jah Guide Me" consists of "a feel-good, relaxed production, filled with warm percussion and uplifting brass arrangements," and talks about seeking guidance from God to protect him from worldly evil. [3] [7]

Reception

Emmanuel Esomnofu of Notjustok included "Jah Guide Me" in his "Best New Music" column, saying it has "powerful production and a virtuoso performance from [Darey]." [8]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Jah Guide Me" was released on 14 August 2020, coinciding with the audio's release. Directed by Mex Ossai and Darey, the video opens with an aerial view of Lagos and features scenes of white sand beaches, sanctuaries, fields, and waters. [3] [9] Darey described the video as "carefully styled and curated", giving a vibe he states as "Afrofuturism." [3] The video received airplay on television networks such as Yo! MTV on Pluto TV and BET Soul Worldwide, reaching an audience of over 50 million viewers. [10] Darafunmi Olanrewaju of Nigerian Entertainment Today stated that the video "brilliantly captures the heart and soul of what makes Darey such an accomplished performer," praising it for its "skillful use of colours." He then concluded that it "sets the bar for visual storytelling and it is a welcome call-back to the good ol’ days of Darey videos." [11] A writer for tooXclusive called it "extremely, empathetically compassionate and a poignant representation of humanity." [9]

Commercial performance

By 21 August 2020, "Jah Guide Me" debuted at number one on the TurnTable Top Radio Songs chart. [12] It stayed at number one for the tracking week of 21 August to 27 August 2020. It received heavy rotation on Cool FM stations in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Abuja, along with Wazobia FM in those same cities, plus Naija FM, The Beat FM in Lagos and Abuja, and Urban 96.5. The song fell to number 47 on the chart for the week of 28 August to 3 September 2020. [13] "Jah Guide Me" peaked at number 49 on the Official Singles Downloads Chart for the week of 20 August to 26 August 2020. [14]

Charts

Chart performance for "Jah Guide Me"
Chart (2020)Peak
position
Nigeria (TurnTable Top Radio Songs) [12] 2
UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [14] 49

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Victoria Zeni (16 August 2020). "Darey Releases Reggae-Centered Message Of Hope Titled "Jah Guide Me"". Lambo Xtra . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Ifedayo Ogunyemi (15 August 2020). "Jah Guide Me… Soothing Sound From Darey". Guardian Life . Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Darey reveals uplifting new single 'Jah Guide Me' with powerful visual". Daily Post . 15 August 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  4. ↑ Motolani Alake (14 August 2020). "Darey announces new single, 'Jah Guide Me'". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Darafunmi Olanrewaju (12 August 2020). "Jah Guide Me: Darey Back With New Music After Four Years". Nigerian Entertainment Today . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  6. ↑ Khadijat Kuburat Lawal (26 August 2020). "'It's some of my best works', Darey set to drop new album". Daily Trust . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "Darey out with new single 'Jah Guide Me'". P.M. News . 14 August 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  8. ↑ Emmanuel Esomnofu (17 August 2020). "Best New Music: Burna Boy - Fireboy DML - Cuppy - Darey - MzVee". Notjustok . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  9. 1 2 Tomiwa (14 August 2020). "Premiere; Darey – "Jah Guide Me Video"". tooXclusive . Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Darey's "Jah Guide Me" Gains Worldwide Airplay!". Yes International! . 2 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Darafunmi Olanrewaju (17 August 2020). "Clean, Classy And Edgy, Darey's New Music Video Raises The Bar". Nigerian Entertainment Today . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Top Radio Songs: August 14th, 2020 - August 20th, 2020". TurnTable . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Top 50 Airplay Songs (Week of August 31 2020)". TurnTable . Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.