Patoranking Returns to His Galala Roots for Infectious New Single ‘No Jonze’

Award-winning Nigerian musician and global music star PATORANKING kickstarts his new era with ‘NO JONZE’, the street-rooted and festival-ready dance offering, and lead single from his forthcoming fifth studio album coming soon.

Built on the raw bounce of late ‘90s and early noughties Galala music, and laced with modern Afro-dancehall sensibilities, ‘No Jonze’ is pure forward motion and celebration with purpose – applauding hustle, urging focus, and reminding underdogs to keep their foot on the gas, with the title flipping Lagos street slang into a mantra for life, imploring listeners not to fumble the moment. ‘No Jonze’ is the first taste of a highly anticipated forthcoming project that will see Patoranking revisiting the streets and culture that raised him, and reframing that energy for today’s global afrobeats stage, connecting his reggae and dancehall foundation with global music momentum.

At the core of ‘No Jonze’ is Galala music, the Ajegunle-born dance-led sound that Patoranking grew up dancing to, and has long championed in his own music. Often described by Patoranking as the “stepchild of dancehall”, Galala music is raw, percussive, and defiantly alive, and ‘No Jonze’ pays that lineage forward, while echoing an era when music was resistance, survival, and freedom. Patoranking also widens the lens with this one, placing Lagos’ street rhythm and culture in a global conversation – the same dancehall DNA that birthed Dominican Republic’s Dembow music, Kidandali in Uganda, and Kenya’s Gengetone also runs through the veins of Galala music. The message from Patoranking threading it all together, and the thesis of his forthcoming album, is clear – afrobeats is not dying, you’ve only heard a few voices, and there’s a continent of stories, styles and sub-cultures yet to explore.

The accompanying video for ‘No Jonze’ lands this manifesto back in Ajegunle, where it all began. Shot in the heart of the bustling Lagos suburb, also known as “the Kingston of Nigeria”, Patoranking shares the frame with Galala greats Marvelous Benjy and Allen B, while a street mural salutes the forebears who birthed the culture, from Daddy Showkey, Daddy Fresh, and Oritse Femi, to Baba Fryo, African China, and Danfo Drivers. Directed by Nigerian filmmaker Director K, who has also worked with Rema, Wizkid and Davido, among others, the visuals bring ‘90s Lagos City vibes and culture into 2025 with cinematic effect, while capturing the essence of ‘No Jonze’ – pure raw energy, galala dance as its finest, real street faces, and fearless fashion, It is improvised, communal, and true to the Nigerian spirit – a love letter to the streets that shaped Patoranking, and a statement of intent into the next generation.

Patoranking is an award-winning Nigerian musician whose sound is global, his story grounded, and his mission bigger than music. Born and raised in Lagos, he forged his own lane from “nothing to something”, as first declared on ‘Alubarika’, by fusing afrobeats, reggae and dancehall into his music, not as a trend but from his lived experience in the streets of Ebute-Metta in Lagos. A cultural ambassador for the continent, he is one of Afro-dancehall’s most defining voices with era-shaping hits like ‘My Woman My Everything’ and ‘Babylon’, and culture-shifting collaborations with Major Lazer, Popcaan, Bryson Tiller, and the late great Bob Marley. He comes with a much-coveted catalogue that boasts over 2 billion global streams, and Billboard-charting projects, from his 2016 debut album God Over Everything to 2023’s World Best. On stage, he has taken that message to over 50 countries, from London’s O2 Arena and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival in Qatar.

Beyond the charts, Patoranking stands at the intersection of craft and purpose. Through his charity, the Patoranking Foundation, he has directly impacted over 5,000 young people, awarded 250+ scholarships across primary, secondary and university levels, launched tech scholarships, and unveiled a new community football turf in Lagos – work that he advances as the United Nation Development Programme’s Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, championing youth innovation, entrepreneurship and its Sustainable Development Goals. As a musician, Patoranking is bold and street-rooted, equal parts cultural guardian and global African voice, as reflected in critical acclaim from tastemakers such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, CNN, and Vogue, as well as major award recognition from The Headies, MTV Africa Music Awards, and AFRIMMA, and a two-billion-plus streaming footprint that travels across Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, North America, and Latin America.

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