Afrobeats Star Joeboy Says He Drew On Dancehall For Viral Hit ‘Sip’

Nigerian Afrobeats artist Joeboy has revealed that he drew for Dancehall and Reggae music for inspiration when he penned his hit song Sip (Alcohol).

The 24-year-old made the revelation in response to questions posed by Grammy.com, during an interview that had focused on the misuse of Sip (Alcohol) by TikTokers, who supposedly “took the song in a hedonistic direction”.

“Right now, I’m listening to a lot of Dancehall songs,” Joeboy said.

“I listened to a lot of Bob Marley, so that was kind of the influence. I really just wanted to switch my songs up. I felt like it was time for me to evoke something [different]. Variety is the spice of life. Regardless of how good or great it is, people get a different side,” he added.

According to Joeboy, he came up with the track in a bid to “reach a large audience and court them with a song that everybody can relate to from all walks of life”.

The song in question was released in October, and its opening lines appear to have been fashioned using themes from Koffee‘s Toast, her W collab with Gunna, and Repeat with J Hus.

“We nuh go fall/ We go go/ We go win/ You go know/ All of the blessings fall on my yard/ Blessings Dey for my yard/ And like that/ E go be/ You see/ You go feel/ Because the blessings/ Fall on my yard/ Blessings fall on my yard,” it begins.

 

Sip (Alcohol) is described as not only one of the year’s biggest Afrobeats singles, but also as Joeboy’s fastest-growing single, amassing over 50 million streams within four weeks of its release.

The song also rose to number one on Billboard’s LyricFind Global chart, and was the most-streamed song of the last month on Audiomack, according to Grammy.com, which noted that it also topped Apple Music’s streaming chart in 17 countries, reaching number two on Genius’ trending chart and number three on Shazam’s Global Top 200.

During the Grammy.com interview, Joeboy said he was petrified that Sip (Alcohol) had taken on a life of its own as a TikTok challenge, where people pour hard liquor and palm oil down their throats, and said he had to warn fans not to participate.

“I was very, very intentional: ‘That’s why I sip, not drink, or gulp, or pour — so I wouldn’t be misleading people, encouraging them to get drunk or wasted,” he had explained.

“On TikTok, it was getting really, really crazy. People started pouring stuff [everywhere]. It was kind of off-brand for me. It was portraying the song in some kind of light that was not intended, so I had to speak up on that. People were drinking palm oil and pouring stuff on everybody,” he added.

He added: “Yeah It was crazy, man. It was a trend. It looked bad. When you come to an extreme like that, just chill.”

According to Joeboy, he had intended for the song to point out that regardless of life’s challenges, people ought to still enjoy themselves.

“I’d say, in life, we all have challenges. It’s never-ending. It never stops. Sometimes, you need a break — a temporary escape.  For me, at that point, it was wine. I like white wine. So, I was in Ghana just staring at the sky, and these words just came into my head…That’s why I sip my alcohol/ I don’t wanna reason bad things no more.” It’s a feel-good song,” he said.