Peru

Album

Playboy

Label

Empire Distribution

Genre

Afrobeats

Composer(s)

Adedamola Adefolahan;Ivory Scott;Kolten Perin;Oluwaseyi Akerele

Entered Chart

Feb 12, 2022

Peak Date

Apr 9, 2022

Released

20 July 2021

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Empire

Fireboy DML (birth name Adedamola Adefolahan) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter whose music is a mixture of Afrobeats and R&B. His breakthrough single, an Afropop head-bopper titled "Jealous," won the Listener's Choice prize at the 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival. Fireboy recorded "Peru" after Nigerian producer Shizzi (Wizkid, Davido) invited him over to San Francisco to listen to some beats. The song retells Fireboy's first summer in the US. I'm in San Francisco jamming Wo ni won wa mi Wo ni won wa mi I just flew in from Miami While over in America, he falls in love with a girl. She say she like my tunes She say me I never see a guy like you The chorus is a play on Fireboy's fellow Nigerian singer Peruzzi and the country of Peru. Peru para Peru Peru para I'm loo Even Peru don dey para "Para" means losing control in the Nigerian pidgin language. Here, Fireboy nods to Peruzzi's chorus on "4U," his song with DJ Ecool and Davido, where he sings: "Baby I'm loosing con control." The song took Fireboy less than an hour to put together. By letting go of his perfectionist inclinations, he could enjoy the music-making process, and his relaxed frame of mind led to the carefree lyrics. "The song is really about a young man in a foreign land, enjoying himself," the Nigerian singer told Rolling Stone, "and just coming out of his shell and having fun and living life." Shizzy produced the track, adding some subtle dancehall influences to Fireboy's "Afro-Life" music. Fireboy DML released "Peru" on July 16, 2021. Six months later, he dropped the international remix featuring a verse by his hero, Ed Sheeran. Several years previously, the English pop star's songs inspired Fireboy to learn how to play the acoustic guitar. Also, "Need You," the guitar-led opening track of the Nigerian's debut album, Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps, borrows instrumentally from Sheeran's track "Tenerife Sea." Ed Sheeran has form for contributing to Afrobeats songs. In 2017 he co-wrote "Bibia Be Ye Ye" for his Divide album with British-Ghanaian artist Fuse ODG. Two years later, he featured alongside Nigerian star Burna Boy on Stormzy's "Own It." So what do the Peruvians think of this song? Well, their government certainly approves. They tweeted in support of the international remix: "PERU PARA, PERU PERU PARA!!! Seems like Ed Sheeran and Fireboy DML were inspired by our country to launch their newest hit? Have you already listened to it? It's called "Peru" and sounds really catchy!" Fireboy recorded "Peru" as a spontaneous freestyle during a studio session with Nigerian producer Shizzi after arriving tired and drunk off a flight from Miami. "He just played me the beat. I was really tipsy, like, 'You know what? Let's just do this, man.,'" he recalled to Billboard. "I was in a different headspace. I was in the mood for anything." Fireboy added that until his trip to the States in 2021, he had led an overly cautious life. He didn't go out, didn't mingle and was always very careful with his relationships. The Nigerian singer-songwriter told himself that during his American trip, he would open up and leave the cage he'd put around himself. "That's what the song is all about," Fireboy said. "I just got in the booth for 35 minutes and told my story. Not in the most profound of ways, but it's a feel-good song, and that's the point." Fireboy DML dropped another remix featuring verses by Blxst and 21 Savage on February 11, 2022.

Peru, para
Peru, para
Peru, para
(nah)
Peru, para
Peru, para (mmh, yeah)
Peru, para (jheeze)

Omoge, no be so
Girl, you wan capture my soul
Omoge, no be so
Make me wan wombolombo

Peru, para
Peru Peru, para
I'm loo'
Even Peru donde para

Tonight in Jozi, I'm in Jozi
Mo'n k'orin fun won, wan jo si
I'm not playing with you, I'm not joking
My third album is loading
Mi o kin fa'gbo but I'm on molly
I'm on duty but I'm on lowkey
They wan' do me, they wan' do me
They wan' do me gan, they wan' do me

Woni won wa mi, woni wo n wa mi
I'm in San Francisco jamming
Woni won wa mi, woni wo n wa mi
I just flew in from Miami

Peru, para
Peru Peru, para
I'm loo'
Even Peru donde para (ayy)

Can't nobody do your body like me
She said, "Well, you should come remind me
You know exactly where to find me"
But I've been looking, looking for you
Pick up the phone, the least you can do (jheeze)
Might be there in a weekend or two
Wanna dive deep in with you like, whoa

So can you come show me?
Can you come show me
Everything that you told me?
You said you want me
You not the only one tryna control me
I've been wanting you so bad
That you might make me backtrack
Might just fly away
Just touched down from MIA

When you see me I'm on go mode
Took the rap game and I put it in a chokehold (21)
Hit it from the back, I'm going loco
Twenty million dollars in a year and that's with no shows (21)
Say she love me, but I'm deaf, yeah, So So (facts)
She got a thing for Chanel, I call her CoCo (facts)
I wanna see you whine, get on all fours
Lace front, but she likes her beats Afro (21)
Always looking fine, how you do that? (how you do that?) (21)
Walk past, ass fat, I'm like, "Who dat?" (I'm like, "Who dat?")
I'm with the gang, they keep asking where your crew at (21, 21)
She like, "They on the way, you shoulda already knew that"
Yeah, you talking, let me see if you can back it up
Riding in a SF90 and I'm acting up
I like staring at the money while it's stacking up (21)
Don't pay attention to the haters, they just acting tough (21)

Woni won wa mi, woni wo n wa mi
I'm in San Francisco jamming
Woni won wa mi, woni wo n wa mi
I just flew in from Miami

Peru, para
Peru Peru, para
I'm loo'
Even Peru donde para