by Wilfred Okiche
- Spotlight- Reekado Banks
It is no surprise that Spotlight isn’t quite the sum of its parts. Aside from Tiwa Savage’s R.E.D album, one would have to go back to the hey days of The Entertainer (D’banj) and Mushin 2 Mo’Hits (Wande Coal) to find stellar albums overseen by Don Jazzy. For an artiste who hasn’t exactly been churning out the hit singles in their numbers and with plenty still to prove, this record should have been dynamite. It isn’t. Far from. Don Jazzy will always be fine but he doesn’t do this particular ‘’child’’ many favours here.
- YAGI- Lil Kesh
The title of YAGI states its intentions clearly and Lil Kish does not depart from it at all. He puffs and boasts and brags and tires himself all too soon, preaching the gospel of his young and fabulous life. What you see is exactly what you get and Y.A.G.I plays like the fun, cool, imperfect vanity project you knew it would be. Olamide has put out similar stuff in the past but Kesh packs enough heat to redo the material without sounding like a clone of the original YBNL.
- Authentic- J Martins
Still, you cannot fault a guy for trying. The bulk of Authentic is in keeping with J Martins’ highlife origins. Up tempo sounds and cheesy, at times incoherent lyrics mix with passable production bonafides to make for a disc that is only occasionally exciting and tries not to overstay its welcome. When he is stuck, he makes another song with pal DJ Arafat, hoping the Ivory Coast singer will hold our attention. Sometimes he does, other times he doesn’t. Still the hustle continues. We understand it. Doesn’t mean we have to embrace it.
- Corporate Miscreant- Oritsefemi
Oritsefemi returns this year with another dud titled Corporate Miscreant. As albums go, this one is many notches higher than his last offering, the atrocious Money Stops Nonsense and the improvement in quality of his output is commendable. But he is still quite a few steps removed from delivering a decent effort. Corporate Miscreant has its highlights but for the most part it is clunky, screechy, awash with too much autotune plus too little direction, and definitely overstays its welcome.
- W.E.E.D- Solid Star
The problem with W.E.E.D is the problem with Solid Star and artistes of his ilk. They are in it strictly for commercial reasons and will try whatever sound is resonating with the people. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money and seeking attract a wide audience but a little character wouldn’t hurt. Even after 23 songs, Solid Star is still as blank as he’s been since he first arrived. Nothing new to see here.
This is creativity, they say every Non-sense there is sense, Every sense there is Non-sense.