Davido’s “Already Falling” gets a percussive makeover on Nigerian DJ Starkeed’s “Oriade Already Falling Drum Version”
The treatment is a widely established concept in Nigerian DJ culture: the drum version, taking a hit record, stripping it back to its rhythmic bones, letting the percussion carry the emotional weight the original voice supplied.
DJ Starkeed adopts that technique to one of ORIADÉ’s most sensitive moments. So “Already Falling” is rebuilt, from the rhythm up, already a low-key, feeling-forward record on the album.
Timing is clever. “Already Falling” is the kind of track that gets a drum version. The original production already leans on warm bass guitar plucks and snappy percussion shakers. So making a DJ reconstruction using those rhythmic aspects isn’t fighting the song’s essence. It magnifies what was there.
DJ Starkeed’s choice to explore the tracks from the ORIADÉ album is also good curatorial instinct. It is still a novel project in the Nigerian music discourse. So a percussion version that enhances the listening experience gives listeners another option to enjoy the album without the content coming across as a rehash. The best DJ edits of pop tracks function as remixes used to – they don’t supplant the original; they unlock another door into the same room.
This one deserves a spot in the rotation for DJs, content makers, and listeners who like to hear familiar recordings thru a new percussive lens.
Listen to the “Already Falling Drum Version” and let us know if DJ Starkeed should release a whole ORIADÉ drum series!
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