Review Of Wizkid's Soundman EP: The Wizkid We Know?

6th of December 2019, Ayodeji Balogun aka
Wizkidayo , aka Starboy, aka Machala , aka Sound
man after recording a smash hit with Beyonce earlier
in the year decided to pull a Beyonce on music
listeners across the world by dropping his seven track
Extended play entitled entitled " Sound man " .
Machala as he is fondly called decided to drop a
surprise EP to wet the appetite of Wizkid FC and
music listeners in anticipation of his highly awaited "
Made in Lagos" album . After the release of Joro and
ghetto love which were received with mixed
reactions, Ayo decides to test the waters by dropping
this project under the Starboy imprint and as we
analyse this body of work, we will see whether
indeed Baba bolu proved his Calibre and repute as
Africa's biggest contemporary music export .
Producers - Blaqjerzee, London, KelP
Featured Artistes - Chronixx, Djtunez, Blaqjerzee, KelP,
London
Label - Starboy
1) Jam featuring Chronixx
On Jam featuring Jamaican artiste, Chronixx, Wizkid
gives us an opening reminiscent of his stellar efforts
on Sounds from the other side .. Wizkid sings about
Jamming the love of his life and begging her to come
into his life .The highlight of the track is Chronixx who
brings his A game on this track and spices it up with
his patois vibes . The trumpet gives this jam , an
Afrobeat feel and Wizkid lyrics which is a deviation
from what he has been serving us for a while makes
listeners hopeful for more . A perfect intro.
2) Blow ft Blaqjerzee
Something about Blow gives a vibe of "low", a song
by Larry Gaaga featuring Wizkid which is also
produced by the same producer , Blaq Jerzee . Wizkid
tells the ladies to blow the trumpet and Jo fun Alhaji.
Everything on this track screams Low. A decent track
at most .
3) Cover me ft Djtunez
Kel P vibes showed his mastery of Afro beats
production on Cover Me featuring Starboy resident
disc jockey, Dj Tunez . Wizkid is having fun with the
beat , reminiscient of his efforts on the Phantom
produced " Master Groove " and Sarz produced "
Ghetto youth ", Wizkid focuses more on the vibe and
flow rather than lyrical artistry.
. This is Afro beats and Wizkid successfully delivered
on this particular track ..One for the shrine .
4) Mine ft KelP
Perphaps the best track on the EP , the song offers
the same vibe Wizkid delivered on the dokta frabz
produced " Joy " . Wizkid showed his lyrical capacity ,
vocals and lovely flow on this one .. Laid back with a
meaningful message and excellent production from
KelP , Mine comes off as an instant classic and hit
song .. Wizkid will do well to shoot a video of this
song if he doesn't decide to go STFOS with the videos
.
5) Electric ft London
London , Producer of Rema's Bad commando shows
he is fast becoming a force to reckon with in terms of
music production. The tracks so far shows Wizkid
attempting to bring us back to those STFOS vibes .
" Say she bust everyday , she day make man craze
"..
This sexual vibe which Baba bolu has termed electric
vibe is one for the couples and clubs .. A serious
whining song for the ladies and a serious stimulant
for the production of babies .
A potential hit in the Carribean market too alongside
Jam featuring Chronixx.
6) Ease your mind ft KelP
My Personal Favourite ..Kel P once again proves
himself a magician . Wizkid goes motivational on this
one urging his listeners to take life easy and ease
their mind like Mr Eazi eases his mind whenever he is
with temi otedola. As usual , the production from KelP
is top notch and his input is once again felt on this
Afro beats reggae themed project . Wizkid also
shows he is fast becoming comfortable with the Afro
beats genre , a serious deviation from the pop , Afro
pop and rnb vibes which dominated his early days ..
a 9/10 for me
7) Thankful ft Blaqjerzee
Okay .. This is the Lamba .. This sounds like the
Manya vibe Wizkid gave us with Mutay . A December
beer parlour and pepper soup joints Gbedu.
Blaqjerzee delivered and Wizkid delivered too.. with a
touch of prayer and street slangs , the song is
destined to control the streets in a few weeks . The
production feels good.
Final Verdict
Wizkid is having fun and catching cruise .. Perphaps
following criticisms that trailed his last two offerings ,
Joro and Ghetto love , Wizkid decides to take us to
his STFOS days and show us he is still capable of
delivering lyrics and beautifully crafted vibes. The
project feels like STFOS part 2 .
Wizkid is experimenting and showing us his versatility
as he switches between reggae, Afrobeat , Rnb and
some Familiar Carribean vibes .Wizkid is playing safe
and little surprise he drops the project under the
Starboy imprint.
One thing we can't take away is that Wizkid is good
and delivers when he wants to .He is also listening to
the reviews and critics ..
He wants to know what to give us in his Made in
Lagos album hence the release of this project and
also to prove a point to critics who are hell bent on
questioning his lyrical capacity and dominance in the
Afrobeats genre .This project shows that we might
never actually Get our pop influenced Wizkid again as
he is heavily influneced by afrobeats on the project.
Some of the beats sound too similar but Wizkid
manages to give a different flavour to each track .
The production ( beats , mixing and mastering ) is top
notch but I think the inclusion of Sarz who have been
amazing .Wizkid might also need to consider giving
us more of the pop tracks we are familiar with as he
seemed to have neglected that completely for
Afrobeats .
Considering the recent projects and the excellent pen
game therein from acts like Peruzzi , Davido,
BurnaBoy and fireboydml, Wizkid might need to
improve on his pen game if he is hoping to give us
something extraordinary and up to the " New "
standard on his album even if that will involve
getting some writers .
Overall , SoundMan is for the listeners to enjoy while
sipping palmwine , on the beach or laid back
somewhere chilling with family and loved ones
.Nothing serious , just vibes and cruise as we await
Made in Lagos .
Rating - 8/10
Written by Iamsynord
He goes by the Twitter handle @iamsynord

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