Love is the number one subject and inspiration behind art all around the world. Musicians, writers, and painters, among others, have at one point highlighted love for a girl, boy, or even society as the reason for some epic jam or plot. Adekunle Gold is no stranger to the concept of love or songs about it. Since his breakout song “Sade” in 2015 till this very moment, being in love has never being a theme he shies away from.

After a sudden announcement on his Twitter page on Friday, Adekunle Gold released “Sinner”, a slow-paced song effectively pushing us well down the road to Afropop Vol 2, the sequel to last year’s hit project of the same name. Produced by Marcel Akunwata, professionally known as Blaisebeatz, the song follows the same smooth, groovy style that pervaded the entirety of Afropop Vol 1.

The ancient biblical story of David and Bathsheba is the foundation on which the song grows, with the lyrics describing Gold’s affair with his love interest as his “greatest sin.” In the very popular tale, David, King of Israel, sees Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah, a soldier in his army) bathing and – like all Kings in history – is blinded by lust and covetousness. This leads him to get Uriah killed by sending him to the hottest part of battle and then marrying Bathsheba for himself.

This mindset of being willing to do anything to gain the love or mere presence of a beautiful woman is restated by Adekunle Gold. On the chorus, he sings: “Sheba o Sheba/ Girl, you make me a sinner/ Sheba o Sheba/ Don’t make me pull the trigger/ Never say never/ Know I can do whatever/ For Sheba oh…”

This toxic dedication to the relationship appears in bits and pieces throughout both Gold and Lucky Daye’s verses. “Drunk on your potion/Can feel my lips burning/ Losing composure/Can feel my face drowning/ Seems so irrational…”

The beauty of great songwriting is the way it pulls us into another world without a struggle. We know that the lyrics are not to be taken in a literal form; we understand that he has employed metaphors to paint a picture of a love so good, it has to be sinful. And yet, we imagine him drowning in his forbidden love, in water as blue as the pool on the album cover. We imagine him struggling with himself, trying to be balanced and ignore the appeal to do any and every thing for the woman he feels for, even if it occurs at the expense of others.

As David patrolled the palace roof, struggling with royal lust, and reflecting on the fact that he has just murdered his own soldier to take his wife, he belts out Adekunle Gold’s words: “If I can’t have you, nobody can (No, no)/ Tell me how can I get my mind off you?/ (Oh, Sheba)/ How can I gеt my hands off you?/ Tell me how?” We have no idea either.