Nao took a brief hiatus from music following her 2018 album Saturn, but her 2020 re-emergence single “Woman” featuring Lianne La Havas got all of her fans excited for new music. Nigerian artist Adekunle Gold, featured on this record, released his album, Afro Pop, Vol. 1, in 2020.
Nao decided to surprise fans with this new single for the new year, which blends R&B sensuality and smoothness with an upbeat, danceable sound. The song pays homage to sounds that come out of Africa, using strong drum beats and bass loops.
Nao believes that the new single can cure the bad vibes left behind by 2020, explaining “‘Antidote’ is the remedy to 2020, it's a song born out of lockdown which was something that affected everybody's lives all over the world. Both Adekunle and I had daughters born weeks apart during this time, they lifted our vibrations and we wanted to share that good energy with the rest of the world.”
Adekunle Gold added to this statement, saying “This song is a perfect description of how I feel about my daughter. Love usually feels like a concept, sometimes invisible, but with her it’s so tangible because she’s right there. I’m so obsessed with her that if she wasn’t around me, I wouldn’t be ok, I guess that’s what antidote is, a cure, a loving cure to the things that ail me.”
Listen to the Afro-pop inspired single and watch the video.
Quotable Lyrics
She's got that good-good vibes
Beauty that I can't describe
Golden like the sun or skies
Her shea butter skin don't crack
Brown sugar, she a chocolate snack
Fire gyal, she don't take no flack