On 10 June 2024 Asake announced his Lungu Boy World Tour alongside the album.[2] On 21 June 2024, Asake released the album's lead single, "Wave" with Central Cee, followed by its official music video on the same day[3][4] and was plugged by Olaitan.[5] On 5 August, Asake shared the album's official tracklist, previewing guest appearances from Central Cee, Ludmilla, Stormzy, Travis Scott and Wizkid.[6]
Lungu Boy received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Luke Seaman and Poppie Platt of The Daily Telegraph's review awarded the album four out of five stars, characterising it as a "musical experiment" and commending Asake for his innovative approach.[8] Writing for The Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas gave the album the same score, praising the album as an impressive wave of West African pop. However, he also noted that it was not as strong as Asake's second studio album, Work of Art.[9]
Rolling Stone's Mankaprr Conteh rated the record three and a half stars, writing: "Lungu Boy keeps the faith but explores new sounds, becoming Asake's most rhythmically and emotionally diverse album yet, with some experiments more successful than others."[11]
However, NME's Kyann-Sian Williams only awarded Lungu Boy three stars in a more mixed review. They praised Asake for "still rewriting the rulebook on Afro-pop", but questioned why it took some time to "get to the good stuff".[10] In a 6.4/10 review, Abioye Damilare Samson of Afrocritik reviewed that, "Lungu Boy struggles to present a cohesive portrayal of Asake's journey; while it seeks to chronicle his identity, it thematically omits the key aspects of his narrative."[12]
