Album review: Dr. Sid’s ‘Siduction’ fails to seduce

by Wilfred Okiche

SIDUCTION-ART

3 years after debuting on the Mo’ Hits label with his solo record ‘Turning Point’, the dentist turned pop star Dr Sid rebounds with ‘Siduction’. ‘Turning Point’ was fortunate enough to happen at a time when producer cum label boss Don Jazzy was working at the height of his powers. It was a disc so hot, it churned out power jams like ‘Pop something’ and ‘Over the moon’ and ensured Dr Sid earned his keep as a top-billed act. The huge hits gave the good doctor some much-needed credibility such that while he was no D’banj at any moment of this career high, was at least regarded more seriously than say D’Prince (who had at that time, only a handful of hits) and Kayswitch (who had none).

After the Mo’Hits breakup, the lead actors went their separate ways and Kayswitch understandably left with D’banj who (for him) doubles as both elder brother and only shot at a music career. D’Prince also chose familial connections and along with Dr Sid, Wande Coal and a white hot Tiwa Savage, pledged allegance to Don Jazzy who rebounded with Mavin records.

Of course the result of that experiment is common knowledge now. Wande Coal has since left the team and Ms Savage has not really identified as one, not when the watchful gaze of Tee’Billz Balogun is scrutinizing her every move.

So it is at this awkward juncture that Dr Sid arrives with his new album. We’ll get right to it. It is a problematic record. In the sense that it is the kind of contemporary record that seems to be all the rage these days. It is uninspiring, uninspired and targeted straight at tween schoolboys and club hoppers. Dr Sid has earned a medical degree but the only signs he shows here are those of stagnancy. And redundancy.

The songwriting is at basic primary school level. On the boring ‘Princess Kate’, he sings “You’re my chocolate,  chocolate in a miniskirt/when you whine your waist/everything just dey elevate” before following it up with stuff like, “Just like Google girl, I want to hangout.” On ‘The D’ he is unnecessarily puerile, throwing about sexual innuendos while relating the size of his member to that of his wallet. ‘The chicken and the egg’ genuinely makes no sense, one has to wonder where the point lies. First, it seems like an attempt to address the age old mystery of what came first, the chicken or the egg but then it takes a bizzare route so senseless and loses even the staunchest of followers.

On ‘Nwanyi Oma’, poor Emma Nyra cannot catch a break and is obviously still languishing in a lethargic limbo. Badly in need of a hit to follow up her break out in Iyanya’s ‘Your waist’, she hits all the wrong notes here in an instantly unremarkable effort. Ice Prince is a snoozer on the nonedescript ‘Dr Lover’ and the rest of the record consists of titles like ‘Baby tornado’ and ‘Chop Ogbono’. An Alexander Burke assist on the former doesn’t make much of a difference, although the song itself tends to grow on you after multiple listens.

The hint of excitement teased on the album opener ‘Surulere’- Don Jazzy’s most accomplished single in years- does not materialise as the album wobbles from one formulaic, tired number to the other.

Thankfully, there is some good stuff hidden in the mix. Tiwa Savage smoulders with a guest verse on the sizzler ‘Oyari’ and ‘Love mine’ is a mellow mid-tempo ballad that does not follow the get-up-and -dance formula. Some may find the trancey mix of ‘Lady don dada’ to their feet thumping tastes.

But as an album, this one fails quickly. Don Jazzy is all over but he is just throwing stuff out, hoping that one sticks. Surulere does, as do one or 2 aforementioned singles. For a record with 20 tracks, this spells bad news.

The last thing that ‘Siduction’ does is seduce anybody and one does not come off with a deeper knowledge of Dr Sid. It achieves other purposes instead. It annoys, it infuriates and then it bores.

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