My Favorite 2014 Musical Projects
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Last year was filled with a lot of musical work, but i'm going to
be talking briefly about the best albums,EP's and Projects. Also I consider
everything on this list an album I listened to that came out in that same
year(It is purely based on my opinion and on albums i actually listened to from
beginning to end). I hope you find something new to listen to and find one of
you favorite albums from last year on it as well. The albums are:
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's 3rd studio
album which was actually recorded in 2013 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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