[Production Notes — Male‑Only Vocals]
• Tempo: ~100 BPM (98–108 range) • Pocket: slow‑steady R&B × Afrobeats groove
• Backing/Harmonies: male doubles and stacks only (tenor / baritone). Use male falsetto runs sparingly for emotional peaks. Remove any female/higher harmony parts.
• Texture choices: vinyl crackle under verses, off‑beat nylon guitar skanks, congas, soft rim clicks, warm Rhodes, subby bass. Keep verses intimate; open up at choruses.
[Intro — 8 bars]
Vinyl crackle, okada lights, moon hangs low — (breathy)
Salt air, mango breath, city hum in slowmo — (ooh)
[Verse 1 — 8–12 bars]
Okada lights in puddles, your laugh cuts through the rain,
Market lullaby and jasmine, I learn every refrain.
Your fingers sketch my name along a paper fan,
Hibiscus on your collar, dusty road, warm hand.
We move like soft percussion, two hearts fill the lane,
Night sells us to the gutters, but we buy it back again.
[Pre‑Chorus — 6 bars]
Close the distance, feel the hush — the world becomes small,
Your whisper is a compass, pulls my city to its call.
(Backing: male doubles — tenor/baritone: “oh‑oh”)
[Chorus — 4 lines, tight hook]
You keep my heart at steady time — (Lead)
Hold me close, make night mine — (Backing: male doubles)
Mango breath, streetlight shine — (Lead)
Keep this steady heartbeat mine. — (Backing: tenor/baritone)
[Verse 2 — 8–12 bars]
Okada shade, candle wax, the stall lamps bend and glow,
You hum an old love record — the rhythm soft and low.
Jollof steam and laughter, your palm fits into mine,
We fold into the evening like a poem to the line.
Your voice is cheap perfume, but richer than the gold,
Every promise in your pockets, every secret you hold.
[Pre‑Chorus — 6 bars]
Bassline hums the map of us, slow and defined,
I trace the curve of midnight where your heartbeat aligns.
(Backing: male doubles — keep tight tenor/baritone thirds)
[Chorus — 4 lines]
You keep my heart at steady time — (Lead)
Hold me close, make night mine — (Backing: male doubles)
Mango breath, streetlight shine — (Lead)
Keep this steady heartbeat mine. — (Backing: tenor/baritone)
[Bridge — 8 bars — personal, confessional]
Remember market corner — you laughed by the spice stand light,
A kid dropped his drum and we danced barefoot in the night.
I promised then, with rice and smoke and okada horns in line,
I’d be the one to steady you, to keep you and your time.
(Use stripped percussion; male falsetto run at the end of the bridge — brief, emotional)
[Build — 4 bars]
Strings swell, guitars skank harder, congas push the air,
Male doubles climb to tenor falsetto — layered, spare.
[Final Chorus — 16 bars — big, layered male voices]
You keep my heart at steady time — (Lead: full; Backing: male doubles staggered)
Hold me close, make night mine — (Backing: baritone anchors, tenor above)
Mango breath, streetlight shine — (Lead + tight male thirds)
Keep this steady heartbeat mine. — (Full stack; call & response)
(Call: “Na you” / Response: male do
