Album: Sounds From The Other Side.
Artist: Wizkid.
Genre: Hip hop, Rap, Afro pop.
Release: July 13.
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known as Wizkid, knows his origin story. Since his breakthrough hit "Holla at Your Boy," the Nigerian-born singer stayed committed to his come-up narrative and doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. He is breaking barriers and taking over the game.
He threw a good number of hits and captured the attention of the international scene through his globally recognised track "Ojuelegba". Now he has worked with the likes of Tinie Tempah, Chris Brown and Drake and tops some of the major charts in the world.
On Sounds From the Other Side, the 27-year-old singer is much of a globalist. He has been able to move around genres with relative ease. He has a clearer idea of his strengths and exhibits this quality and plenty more on his 40-minute long album.
The effort is a basically the singers most grounded and focused work yet. With help from American rapper Drake, Wizkid offers an inarguably fun-filled vibe on "Come Closer". Major Lazer and Chris Brown provide the much-needed star power on tracks "Naughty Ride" and "African Bad Gyal" respectively.
The December 2016 hit "Daddy Yo" is one of the tracks that made it on the project. He borrows Ty Dolla $ign's vocals twice on "One For Me" and "Dirty Wine". He stays true to his roots with South African R&B and house singer Bucie in the romantic track "All For Love". The album closes with the club-destined "Gbese", which features American Trey Songz.
Wizkid continues to deliver hit after hit, not caring much about the depth of his content, but about staying relevant. His contribution in ensuring that the African sound is accepted globally has been tremendous.
There's no doubt that the album might receive both positive and negative criticism, but Wizkid's maturation is noticeable across the album's 12 tracks. From the reaction around the world, he has made a catchy pop album.
Star rating: 3.5 out of 5.
By: Davies Ndolo (The Star, Kenya).
Photo 1: Pulse, Nigeria.
Photo 2: Crystal Mack.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.