2Baba and FAVE pair up for 'Mental'

Nigerian legendary singer-songwriter 2Baba has released a new single dubbed Mental, featuring super-gifted songstress FAVE, timing the drop to coincide with his 51st birthday. According to his manager and partner Mallam Yankee, the release was designed to give fans another reason to celebrate the milestone alongside the veteran singer, with birthday festivities continuing into a listening party and the launch of 2Baba Jollof in Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday .

Produced by Dee Yasso, Mental pairs 2Baba's established Afro-pop sound with FAVE's modern, emotionally direct vocal style, creating a meeting point between two different generations of Nigerian music. The song explores the overwhelming weight of love and deep emotion, subject matter 2Baba has returned to across different eras of a career that stretches back to his Plantashun Boiz days before he became one of Nigeria's most enduring solo voices.

FAVE, who broke through in 2021 with Baby Riddim and built her reputation on emotionally direct songwriting, brings a lighter vocal texture that sits in contrast to 2Baba's heavier, more grounded phrasing, giving the record room to breathe between the two performances. It marks 2Baba's first release of the year, following his earlier 2026 single Celebrate.

Importantly, Mental also serves as an introduction to 2Baba's forthcoming studio album, Oldest Young Man, which will be his first full-length project in six years. Given that his classic African Queen has recently topped Billboard's list of the best Afrobeats songs ever, the collaboration carries real weight as a marker of where the legendary artist's career stands as he heads into this next chapter.