What stood out in The Return of Jenifa, in addition to its cast of A-list actors, was not just the comedy and drama surrounding Jenifa’s personal struggles, but also how the film doubled as a showcase for Nigeria’s Afrobeats and pop scene, which was beginning to dominate the entertainment industry at the time. Cameos and performances from Naeto C, eLDee, Wizkid, Banky W, Sasha P, Omawumi, DJ Zeez, and Kaffy gave the film a star-studded, musical edge, making it both a comedy-drama and a cultural snapshot of Nigeria’s booming Afrobeats era.
Since the release of The Return of Jenifa in 2011, which grossed around ₦30 million despite a limited cinema run, Akindele has consistently raised the bar in Nigerian box office history by breaking her own records. She first set a new benchmark in 2020 with Omo Ghetto: The grossing ₦636 million to become the highest-grossing Nigerian film at the time, only to surpass it with Battle on Buka Street in 2022 at ₦668 million. In 2023/24, she made history again with A Tribe Called Judah, as the first Nollywood film to cross the billion-naira mark, grossing over ₦1.4 billion. Most recently, she extended her record with Everybody Loves Jenifa in 2024, smashing all previous milestones by grossing over ₦1.8 billion and becoming the highest-grossing Nollywood film of all time.