When 2019 handed Adekunle Gold one of life’s harshest blows—the loss of his father—the Nigerian Afropop star was already drowning in grief when an unexpected email arrived.
Beyoncé’s team wanted him to contribute to The Lion King: The Gift, the global soundtrack celebrating African talent.
Broken but determined, Adekunle Gold dragged himself into the studio. Out of his pain came “Simile”—a song whose Yoruba title means “rest on me.” It wasn’t just a melody; it was a raw confession, a prayer whispered through tears. “It was my grief, my confusion, my cry for direction,” he later admitted.
Yet even as he submitted the track, he quietly prayed it wouldn’t be picked. “Simile” was too personal, too bound to his father’s memory, to hand over. Beyoncé’s team passed on it—and for Adekunle Gold, that “rejection” was a quiet relief. The song retreated to a hard drive, its story untold.
Five years later, in a 2024 studio session, his collaborator Michael pressed play on the forgotten track. The moment was electric: a reminder that even in his loneliest season, Gold hadn’t been abandoned. God, music, and resilience had carried him through.
Now, “Simile” finally steps into the light on his sixth studio album, Fuji. For Adekunle Gold, it’s no longer a secret burden but a gift of solace to anyone mourning a parent, a dream, or a piece of themselves. What Beyoncé’s project didn’t claim has become one of Gold’s most powerful offerings—a testament that even rejection can plant the seeds of redemption.
