Tabula Rasa
Artist: Brymo
Genre: Afro, Soul, Pop
Duration: 38 Minutes
Number of Songs: 11
This was a follow album to his previously released album
Merchants, Dealers and Slaves. It’s also a bit dark but very poetic and descriptive.
There a lot of different stories he told both in English and Yoruba. His rhythms
on his songs were also very on point. He has also been able to express himself
very freely on his tracks and says whatever he wants like in the song Prick No
Get Shoulder he was quite explicit. This album was kinda related to his
previous album the themes in a way like on the song Dear Child which he talked about
his Grand Mother and if you go back to his previous album and listen to the
song Grand Pa you would see how it relates. All in all Mr. Brymo is mastering
his art and hopefully he would become more appreciated and he would release
more visuals. I am anticipating his future projects.
Bed of Stone
Artist: Asa
Genre: Acoustic Rock, Folk
Duration: 48 Minutes
Number of Songs: 14
This album is Asa 3rd studio album which was
actually recorded in 20 in the UK and then the album was co-written and
produced by Blair MacKichan. There were acoustic instruments used throughout on
the instrumentals in album. My personal favorite song is Satan Be Gone which is
a little fast and up beat I don’t know how to explain the vibe I have when I listen
to it. The album is very calm and somehow laid back. Then there is a mixture of
English and Yoruba in most of her songs. The vocals on the song are also
amazing as always.
Passport
Artist: Tay
Genre: R&B, Alternative, Afro Pop
Duration: 40 Minutes
Number of Songs: 12
After some convincing I listened to this project and it blew
my mind. I couldn’t stop listen to this project by Tay. He got an amount of
exposure through the TV show Gidi Up Season 2 to be precise where two of his
songs The Box and Gabriel were played and I must also say who ever selected the
songs made good use of them. Then I also heard he was 17 years old and truthfully
I do not believe. I do not believe because of the content, how mature the
project is, the production, originality and direction. He featured a few artist
who were also up and coming namely Sute, Idara and Shiz. He arranged his tracks
very very well and he had a good blend of the genres he picked to work with. I’m
very glad I was able to listen to this album clearly one of the best things I’ve
listened to this year and I can’t wait for his next projects.
High Volume
Artist: Skweird
Genre: EDM
Duration: 26 Minutes
Number of Songs: 8
This is one of the first Nigerian EDM Project I've ever
listened to and I must say I really enjoyed it and when it came out I was
almost always listening to it. It has this
up beat vibe and the compilation of songs cut across a number of genres. The
beats are quite complex and always transitioning you’re never too sure what to
expect when you're listening to it. It’s really good stuff and as much as I
enjoyed the songs with vocals the songs without vocals were also very crazy. He
a few features on this project namely Bris B of LOS, Dyksen and 3rty. This
project was also well arranged and was also the Artists/Producers debut
project.
The Chairman
Artist: MI
Genre: Hip Hop
Duration: 76 Minutes
Number of Songs: 17
At first when I heard the album I didn’t really like it I guess
it because I didn’t really want to digest the full body of work after the songs
I heard initially. Then I calmed down to listen to I and my friend explained
some concepts behind the album then I began to appreciate the album even more.
The aim behind the album must have been to be a bit humorous and commercially successful
and it achieved that. He was very clever and constructed his lines quite well.
The most impressive thing about the album was the track list arrangement. The
album was interesting and the messages he was sending was clearly passed
across. This isn’t my favorite MI album but hey he had been out of the game for
four years and he’s still got it. There were plenty features on this album
including people like: Olamide, Phyno, Wiz Kid Ij, Milli, Moti Cakes, Runtown,
Stormrex, Koker, Reminisce, Ice Prince, Sarkodie, Emmy Ace, Beenie Man, Oritse
Femi, Seyi Shey, Morell, Loose Kaynon, Patoranking, Sound Sultan Tu Face, Frank
Edwards, Nanya and DJ Lambo.
Rap Is Deep Poetry Is Deeper
Artist: Omari
Genre: Rap, Gospel
Duration: 68 Minutes
Number of Songs: 15
This is one of the best gospel projects I’ve listened to. This
project contained a number of very nice samples and really the illustrations
were just crazy. The album cover really pushed me to listen to it it was just
too nice. The album was very poetic and contained a number of illustrations and
he tried to explain his encounters and perspectives about occurrences in his
life, things that affect the youth and people in general. The album is really
rap oriented and Omari takes his time to really explain the things he does,
things he is surrounded by, how he should answer and how he actually answers. His
skits were also very crazy and creative I liked that he was able to do
different voices on the tracks Mr. Johnson's Poetry Class and Too Big Too Little
skit. I recommend you listen to the project.
Westernized West Africa
Artist: Mojeed
Genre: Hip Hop
Duration: 54 Minutes
Number of Songs: 15
Mojeed Baba!!!! When I first heard the album I didn’t like
it like that but with time and patience to interpret what he was saying this is
like the project I enjoyed the most in 2014. If you check the Notjustok.com ‘sarticle on The 10 Most Gifted Rappers InNigeria 2014 you would find Mojeed there and his Aristokrat record colleague
Ozone on the list as well. In the project Mojeed spoke about a number of
themes: his time in school oversees& in Nigeria, disappointing his parents
and becoming a rapper instead of getting a job after getting a degree, girls,
parties , westernization and a host of other themes. He sampled the late Fela
and featured a number of artist including Cynthia Morgan, Seyi Shay, Kamar, and
Kayswitch. Also, he had some funny Yoruba guys doing additional vocals at the beginning,
end or somewhere during the songs in Murutala Mohammed & Mojebi it was by
Omosco and then on the songs Jagaban & PADG it was by MKO. The album was exclusively
produced by Leri Q (call the paramedics). The only song with a video that I know
of is Jagaban I hope in 2015 he does more work, gets more things out there and gets
bigger soon.
Superiority Complex
Artist: Ozone
Genre: Hip Hop
Duration: 51 Minutes
Number of Songs: 15
I really like the way the mixtape started with the Blackman
Blood sample I laughed for days even after I had already seen the video with
the athlete Divine Oduduru. This is the second Aristocrat records artist on
this list and if you’ve listened to both the project you would realize that the
themes are a bit similar but the projects are very different from each other. There
were too many crazy jams on the mixtape
and then Ozone really tried to keep it as Nigerian as possible some even
say he kept it “1000” (you should understand that reference if you listen to
the mixtape) He really tried to mix up the approach in the different songs and attempted
different things on the project. He also had a number of features including:
Wiz Kid, BOJ, Mojeed, Yung L and Kawulia. Then the skit right before All I Know
was quite hilarious. There have been two videos for the songs off this mixtape
All Night and 1000. Then the vocal performance on my favorite song Confessions was
also quite good. This is his debut project and im hoping for more dope music from Ozone
in the near future.
Jagz Nation Vol2: The Royal Niger Company
Artist: Jesse Jagz
Genre: Hip Hop
Duration: 65 Minutes
Number of Songs: 11
This is Jesse’s 3rd album I think I appreciated
it more after I saw an interview where he said he intended for the album to be
a mixtape but it just had that album feel. The production of this album was
just BAMM!!! Then the samples were something else entirely he sampled several
different works from Fela to Scarface then Tu Pac and then some others. He also
featured a few artists including: Tesh Carter, DUGOD, Sarah Mitaru, Jumar, Show
Dem Camp and Rexx. The depth in some of the song led me into very deep thought.
Then a number of effect & instruments that were on the beat were actually recorded
physically like the bottle sound from High. Then the way Jesse has started to
just make this kind of music that is different from things that come from this
part of the continent really inspires me and just makes me happy. Then you can
also say he is becoming a master of his Art.
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