This AI-Generated Album Just Broke Into Nigeria’s Top 100 Chart

Urban Chords isn’t your typical Nigerian choir like the Official Loud Choir and the rest. For one, it doesn’t exist in real life, and that was a shocker to me. When I first stumbled on the collective’s new album Choir Refix on Spotify through smart shuffle, I assumed it was a group of soulful singers backed by a live band. But when the credits rolled, I realized that there was no choir at all.

Every voice, harmony, lead, backup vocal, and hum was created by artificial intelligence (AI). Released quietly in October 2025, Choir Refix has since exploded across streaming platforms, climbing to No. 43 on the Official Top 100 Albums chart with more than 834,000 on-demand streams, according to Turntable Charts.

Even its AI-generated remake of Omah Lay’s “I’m a Mess” has already crossed 2 million plays on Spotify and another 500,000 on Apple Music after going viral on TikTok’s user-generated content scene.

Urban Chords calls itself “voices that praise differently.” On Boomplay, it’s described as a “dynamic gospel group blending soulful choir harmonies with drill, Afrobeats, and R&B.” Behind the curtain, though, is Olamide Emmanuel Ajayi, also known as Emanvee, a vocal designer and producer who used generative-music software to create the album.

The project was released under Lyripedia, a label Ajayi founded, and Inner Circle Entertainment Limited, a rising Nigerian music startup that has worked with artists like Fido, Mavo, and Dxtiny. Using text prompts, melody cues, and production inputs, Ajayi built what sounds like a 50-person gospel ensemble performing Afrobeats classics under anointing. And Nigerians are listening.

Urban Chords' eight-track project re-imagines Sarz’s “Getting Paid” featuring Asake, Wizkid & Skillibeng, Asake’s “Lonely at the Top,” Olamide’s “99” featuring Asake, Seyi Vibez & Young Jonn, Libianca’s “People,” and a choral mash-up of “Essence,” “Last Last,” “Rush,” “Unavailable,” and “Peru.” Listeners describe it as “church meets club,” a worship-like spin on Afrobeats that feels both nostalgic and futuristic.

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The collective’s next AI-generated gospel project, Grace Till December, is set for release on December 24, featuring a cover of Gaise Baba and Lawrence Oyor’s “No Turning Back.” For Emanvee, the goal is to “bridge the gap between church and culture.”

But viral success often comes with fine print. Choir Refix has reignited debate over whether AI-generated covers are even legal. According to entertainment and intellectual-property lawyer Lola Oyedele, Nigerian law doesn’t yet recognize non-human authors.

“Under the Copyright Act 2022, it’s not legal to reproduce, adapt, or create derivative versions of another artist’s work without consent,” she said in an interview with Zikoko. “AI covers that mimic an artist’s voice or lyrics fall under derivative works, and that’s protected territory.”

Oyedele notes that anyone releasing AI remakes of copyrighted songs must secure two key permissions, a Master Use License for the original recording and a Composition License from the songwriters or publishers. Without them, projects like Choir Refix risk takedowns, fines, or lawsuits for commercial misuse. As it stands, ownership of AI-generated works falls to the human who programmed or directed the system, not the AI itself.

Urban Chords represents a big shift in Nigerian music

For decades, Nigeria’s music scene has thrived on talent scouting, live performances, and cultural authenticity. Now, authenticity itself is being rewritten. Urban Chords’ rise shows how fast that change is happening. In just one month, a single creator armed with an algorithm built an AI choir that broke into the national charts.

The question isn’t whether AI music can exist, clearly, it can. It’s whether it can coexist with the laws, livelihoods, and emotional depth that make Nigerian music what it is. As Oyedele puts it, “AI can enrich African music, but it must do so within a framework that respects creators’ rights. If we don’t define those rules ourselves, we risk losing control of our sound.”

For now, Choir Refix keeps climbing. It may not have a heartbeat, but it definitely has rhythm, and Nigeria is listening.

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