Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Massa Red, Dear Music fan, and lover – This is Cyan Music; do take a seat, and breathe…
We’re here with the review vibes on our side and today we take a look at Joey B’s ‘Lava Feels’ record that came out this month. Darryl Paa Kwesi Bannerman-Martin, icon, fashionista, model, singer, songwriter, and rapper has been a phenomenon since his Tonga single hit the streets. He has indeed built a reputation for himself in the industry and he’s pushed music to far heights with his experimental approach to it. Joey is an influencer and it shows because a lot of new artists with similar styles have been able to step into the limelight because of what he’s been able to achieve. Like every artist, he has his scars from battling the music scene here but it hasn’t stopped him at all. Joey’s experimental nature is what has pushed him to be where he is. Always looking to try something new and flawlessly execute it after many errors. He’s come a long way and we give him props for that. Lava Feels is a 9 track album with a run time reaching 25 minutes. It features popular artists like Stonebwoy, M3nsa, Ko-Jo Cue, Pappy Kojo, E.L, Bosom P-Yung, RJZ, Odunsi, and Sauti. Quite the list for dope guest artists. Well, let’s get into it and see what we have here.
Personal sentiments, Content and Lyricism, Vocals and Production in no Particular order…
Before anything, we have to address the album art because.. we don’t know what was happening. It looked more like a PlayStation 1 action game rather than an album art. Red had this to say:
Sigh, to begin with, I’m very disappointed in Joey for coming out with such lazy work with regards to his cover art for this project. Little or no at effort at all was put into it. It looks like the designer ripped a cool picture of lava and found a cool font and just put them together. Well, to give him the benefit of the doubt I guess this quality of cover art was produced because of the type of project Joey put out, it is just a compilation. But regardless a little effort could have been put into producing cool cover art for the project
– Massa Red on the Cover Art of Lava Feels
The album starts with the album title, ‘Lava Feels’. The sound Joey B has adopted and has been experimenting with is growing with time and this album feels like something he’s using to show us how much progress he’s made. Lava feels provides this smooth, easy on the ears sounding instrumental with a very laid back delivery from the artist. You can tell he’s in his zone with this record and it’s a classic opener for the album. Then comes ‘La Bamba’. Honestly sick of hearing lines about time, ‘Rolex’, and ‘Hublot’. It’s getting really old. This song is also a very laid back record. Sark’s delivery was okay. No weird lines but no ‘wow’ factor about it. ‘Silicon Valley’ with P-Yung. I don’t care what anyone says, that hook was trash. It was clumsy, goofy, and lazy to be honest. There was so much more that could have been done and the concept could have been worked on to make it’s delivery better. And the ending to the song was, well, it was Joey B. Dunno what to say about it. ‘Paa Kwesi’ features RJZ of La Meme Gang fame and Joey B starts the song paying respects to legend Daddy Lumba, and you can detect the Lumba feel and sound in the record with the approach to the vocals and lyrics. The hook is pretty catchy as well. A good record overall. ‘‘Over You’ was also a decent record. ‘Affection’ sees Stonebwoy brings a livelier vibe to the record as the previous ones have followed a certain pattern so far. Stonebwoy did justice to his feature and it’s an enjoyable song. Now ‘Far Away’. That record will probably not get the props it deserves.
Blue had this to say about that particular record:
‘Mensah had the best verse on the album. Period.’
The song in itself is perfect, vocally, sonically and it does justice enough to prove Joey’s mettle as a top artist. Because the song doesn’t even sound Ghanaian, and that’s how fresh the sound is. This song undoubtedly opened up the path for ‘Hard Knocks’ with Ko-Jo Cue to settle into the album. Without the other, just one of the tracks would have felt out of place a bit. Joey’s delivery on this record too was flawless and the feature only served to complement a masterpiece. The vocals on this record were also good. The outro to this album was classic and pretty upbeat. All artists delivered the goods and signed off on the album decently. The instrumental was unconventional but it still worked out in the end and that’s what matters.
Concluding…
This compilation had its flaws but still came out okay with a lot of very very classic records, a few hitches here and there but all in all an interesting record from Joey B.
The Signature Sign Off…
Big thanks to Mr. Blue and Massa Red for their input and general insight and much appreciation to you, our reader. What do you think of the album? What do you think of this review? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. This has been Cyan Music, Music Review corner.
Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Massa Red, Dear Music fan, and lover – This is Cyan Music; do take a seat, and breathe…
November was a blessing and we reiterate that it’s been a good month for records that have come out. Today we delve into the latest release of the acclaimed ‘god MC’, Ghanaian rapper, lyricist and songwriter, M.anifest dubbed ‘The Gamble’. Like every artiste who rises to the spotlight and stays there, M.anifest has his beloved fans and those who don’t see him for what he’s worth. But it never stopped him from doing what he does best; music. After the success of his previous full length studio album Nowhere Cool which, honest to God, we will probably do a review on when we begin our Throw Back Specials series of hit records from the past, he’s done it again with this record. 7 songs and 25 minutes of just pure bliss and total awesomeness, and we can’t contain our excitement about this review. Let’s jump into it!
Personal sentiments, Content and Lyricism, Vocals and Production in no Particular order…
It’s never been this emphasized but the truth is we like how the artistes nowadays are taking to working and creating bodies of work as opposed to singles. It is encouraging for the culture and the industry, it also means we can know what our artistes are made of. Anyone can make a single than can hit, but sustained greatness is ultimately what we’re hoping these works achieve. The Gamble is thematically crafted around the concept of ‘a labor of love’; a reflection on love, life, and the chances we take according to the god mc. The record opens with the title track and features Bayku and it more or less sets the tone for what to expect. The hook delivers a smooth and sweet mood with the vocal appearance from the said featured artist and Manifest gets into it straight away with his verses on the subject. As usual, the rapper keeps it dexterous and shows off his profuse lyrical ability. The skit at the end of the song by Lydia Forson is interesting, intriguing and comical really, adding depth to the track itself. Massa Red speaks on the album art and he had this to say:
M.Dot is and has always been a creative genius. And this is evident in almost every aspect of his life. The amount of thought and creativity M.anifest puts into his album covers specifically is amazing. Now on this particular cover art, I like the minimalist nature of it. Most especially the simplicity in the colors used. The concept behind the cover art is also very impressive. It is a die … which is for gambling, hence the name ‘The Gamble’ with painted images of M.dot and per my understanding, his lover. The spots on the die represent two things; the first one being the spots on a die, and the second being sources of light (the sun – portraying a more exterior setting, and a lamp – to portray an indoor setting. M.dot is using the die to represent how he gambles with his love life. And the images on each side of the die shows how ‘serene’ or ‘clumsy’ his relationship is. The cover art is very thought-provoking and as always M.anifest never seems to disappoint when it comes to his cover arts.
– Massa Red on the Album art of M.anifest’s The Gamble
The second song comes with vocals brought to you by Grammy-nominated Nigerian act Burna Boy, yes, Burna Boy. After the Nigerian star featured the god mc on his Grammy-nominated album, the latter returned the favor and he did what he does best on the record with his magic. I will be honest though, maybe it’s because of the theme of the record, I felt these tracks could’ve even achieved higher levels of perfection, but the songs are good, there is no bad record on this, not one. Maybe a feeling of genericity on some of them but no bad records. The next track is a classic, probably the fan-favorite I believe; and as a tweet on our timeline said, ‘the cheat code is Worlasi.’ We’ve said this before, Worlasi never disappoints, with his hooks and his deliveries and he demonstrated that again connecting with the vibe on this song. The feature of Kojey Radical was also a very good guest act; it reminded me of a bit of Showdem Camp’s flow when he was featured on Ko-Jo Cue’s album.
‘Lyrically, it is the most hard hitting record on the whole record. And I like this kind of rap braggadocio. Worlasi references ‘the impudence of a dying cockroach’ and that just resonates with the resilience this record speaks on. Radical was on point as well, in fact, all the features were dope!’.
– Mr.Blue on the track ‘Cucaracha’ Ft Worlasi & Kojey Radical and the record as a whole
There’s so much positives to take away from this particular record, the conversational skits adding levity to the tone of the album generally, even solidifying the humorous nature of the title ‘Cucaracha’. It’s all in the execution, and the execution was perfect. The song Ohemaa has probably the most palatable production, it’s just so beautiful to listen to the sounds come together to create the instrumental and it complimented Moego’s voice and delivery. We can tell what M.anifest wanted to do and he spared no expense in getting guest acts who brought a different flavour unto the record.
‘From a Distance’ features B4bonah, and the song automatically settles the listener into a very elegant mood to just sit back and enjoy the tune. M.anifest can rap, we know this, but the way he approaches the records on here, we can tell it isn’t necessarily about the showcase of lyrical skill, it’s more about conveying the story and resonating with the theme. Again, the production team has to be applauded for how they put these records together. ‘Big Mad’ features Simi and is one of the singles that were initially released to pave the way for the album’s release. Like we said earlier, some of the records had a bit of a generic feel about them and this record happened to be one of them. As we said, we feel like the songs could yet still achieve higher levels of perfection. However, you can’t dismiss the quality on display here. The record ends with the jam ‘I Dey for You.’ The song is dope, it is short, the hook and the production is top-notch and it ends on quite a beautiful note with guest vocals that brought a hint of spice unto the record.
Concluding…
All in all, it’s a great record from the god MC, one that will resonate with his audience and his fan base especially considering the theme he decided to address. Even though he’s a rapper organically, we like to see artistes dabble with other genres, as well as other artistes regardless of whether or not we know them. As long as they carry the right vibe for a record and make it work to perfection, we’re happy. Hats off for this!
The Signature Sign Off…
Big thanks to Mr. Blue and Massa Red for their input and general insight and much appreciation to you, our reader. What do you think of the album? What do you think of this review? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. This has been Cyan Music, Music Review corner.
Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Dear Music fan, and lover – This is Cyan Music; do take a seat, and breathe…
We’re guessing the title of the review already has people on edge, but don’t fret. What’s good music fans and lovers? We’ve got the vibes on our side and we’re about to get into the fourth full-length studio album dubbed ‘Wonder Boy’ by none other than reggae-dancehall producer and musician, King of the ‘SM’ empire and his cult-like militant fan base, Shatta Wale, formerly known as ‘Bandana’. Who doesn’t know Shatta Wale? It’s been yet another colourful year for the artiste who continues to make headlines in the entertainment industry; whether it’s him being featured by Beyonce on her album ‘The Gift’ released in sync with the Lion King, the famous VGMA incident with his then-rival, now turned friend ‘Stonebwoy’, videos of stunts he pulled during his performances at shows or the album he was featured on being nominated for the Grammys and whatnot, you cannot deny, this guy has a knack for the spotlight. Shatta Wale; can’t live with him, can’t live without him. Anyway, this is the newest full-length studio album of the reggae-dancehall superstar after ‘Reign’ last year, which he released at his annual ‘Reign’ Concert in October. The album which runs a full length of a little over 40 minutes, built-up anticipation as the single ‘Melissa’ was released to pave the way for the record. Even though a lot of people have a lot to say about him as a character, we’re here to talk about his music. One thing that has not benefited from the numerous stunts Shatta is constantly pulling off is this right here; his albums. Because his singles are constantly making waves, the fans and music listeners out there don’t pay a lot of attention to his albums, if they did, they’d know this, Wale is very good at whatever it is he’s doing. His last album, Reign, was pretty decent but it wasn’t bad – debatable? No doubt, but you need to do the observation; listen to the albums and listen to the singles – the guy knows what he’s about, and he’s been doing a pretty good job so far, and that’s just an opinion from observation.
Personal sentiments, Content and Lyricism, Vocals and Production in no Particular order…
Coming into this album, we didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t have so much information on the theme or whether or not it was going to be a conceptual album, the single ‘Melissa’ in no way gave us any ideas either but I guess from the album title we could guess it was going to be a narrative centring on the artiste’s journey through life . The album opens with a narrative in the form of spoken word, using a few of the books of the bible as part of the scheme to tell Shatta’s story. After 45 seconds, I lost both focus and interest. We understand the concept behind this and we applaud the art direction, it’s quite interesting now that more and more artistes are willing to incorporate skits and narratives in the form of spoken word, storytelling and interviews on their records to help get their messages across especially in this part of the world. However, these things require attention and contrary to popular belief, they aren’t that simple – you don’t do it because you like it, you do it to fit it into what you’re presenting. We addressed this in the fourth paragraph of our review of Ko-Jo Cue’s recently released #ForMyBrothers and we referenced Sarkodie trying it out on his last full-length album ‘Highest’. With that said, the narration here was boring, the scheme was predictable and basic; a spoken word narration can’t be as flat sound-wise for the majority of the record especially when it’s going to be 5 minutes long. As it nears its completion, the narrator switches languages. No problem with that. However, when it extends for a longer period, you’re bound to lose the listener because they don’t understand what you’re saying and you’ve been saying it for a while. There’s a lot that goes into the art of narration and if you look hard enough, you’ll find the right people to execute it flawlessly. This isn’t the note you want to start a record on, albeit a nice approach but poorly executed. We’re glad when it ends and the next record which is ‘Melissa’ starts. Now here’s the conundrum, do you start an album with a narrative like that and continue with a song like ‘Melissa’ to be a saving grace if the narrative doesn’t go as planned? How exactly does ‘Melissa’ as a record straightaway fit into place after the narration that we just listened to? Don’t get us wrong, ‘Melissa’ in itself is an enjoyable song, its slow groove, and instrumental aesthetics were homemade for Shatta to weave his magic on, even though one of the hooks had a mysterious glitch as the song plays and till this day, we are trying to figure out what that was supposed to accomplish. It doesn’t take anything away from the record but, maybe an oversight? Regardless, a narration shouldn’t be followed by a song like this – it is usually followed by an anthemic track or a song that opens the whole album up for the listening journey, ‘Melissa’ isn’t that record, to be honest. The track-listing is a weakness identified early on on this album, and it reared its head with the positions of ‘Bad Man’ and ‘California’ as well. You have to understand this, ‘Melissa’ has a specific vibe, ‘Jata Bi’ and ‘California’ also carries the same vibe so why, would you sandwich a record like ‘Bad Man’ in between them? The song has very questionable vocals both with and without the autotune and even though it’s kept short, you have to wonder whether or not it could’ve been better because Shatta screamed at a point – in the middle of the song – and that, wasn’t a good feeling, it practically threw us off. That portion of the album could’ve easily been sorted out with a genuine conversation about the arrangement of the tracks, and way more focus on perfection with respect to the vocals.
You get the feeling that stuff may have been a little bit rushed, with the simplistic nature of the records and how short and brief the content in them are. ‘By All Means’ sees Shatta channel his inner Nigerian influence, this too he kept simple and decent with the song faintly bringing Medikal’s ‘Omo Ada’ into remembrance tempo-wise and structure-wise mostly because of its simplistic nature lyrically. People might drag the critique on the opening track but take a look at the intro skit of ‘Ay3 Half Cast’ how it ushers the song in – that is more or less the kind of effect you want to create when a narrative is in the fray, and this skit isn’t even a narration, it’s just Wale talking. The song is the point at which Shatta is immortalized, and is the point where he more or less comes alive in his musical regalia. The sad thing is because of the mixed feelings so far, it is potentially problematic to see and embrace the fullness of it. This is followed by another skit which does a decent job of introducing the song ‘Be Afraid’. The instrumental on this record and how Shatta delivers faintly remind us of fellow dancehall artiste ‘Stonebwoy’ and how he would approach a record. The musicality on this record was way more vibrant than most and his content and the message was aimed and direct. Of all the skits, the Joy FM interview bit probably takes the cake for us.
‘It’s never okay to revel in people’s tragedies but it sort of makes you root for him. He’s very vociferous and that rubs people the wrong way but he’s really been an underdog and has always worn his heart on his sleeve because of that.’
– Mr. Blue on the Joy Fm Skit on the Record ‘Wonderboy’
In a generation where masculinity and fatherhood are increasingly becoming problematic, it’s heartwarming to see that an artist like Wale has, if nothing at all, a bond, and respect for his father and his influence on his life. He may not be the most likable or a role model for kids in the eyes of a lot of people, but these little things show the human side of him. The next song is architected to make an identity statement and would be one to grow on you the more you listen to it. The song that signs off this record picks up energy from the previous one and runs with it till the end, and is easily going to be one of the more memorable tracks on the album because of its structure and a similar vibe it carries almost akin to his record ‘My Level’. The production was selective and bold about the instruments used on it and that gave the song a unique but wholesome sound.
Concluding…
There are a lot of schools of thought when it comes to this album. The concepts come off as simplistic and because of that, Shatta looks unadventurous with them; like he was trying to play it safe. A lot more effort could have gone into the various records to make them potentially way better and there are so many places on the album to make that case. Or, in album mode, simply put, this is the Shatta we get, and that makes this not so much different from Reign, where he’s streamlined and his content is more tailored and tuned to a specific effect as against the mainstream tracks he puts out. Overall, that narration at the beginning was horrendous, the track-listing and song arrangement could’ve been better, a lot more effort could have been channeled into the perfection of the album which would have made it good but this is what we got, and it’s okay, just barely okay.
The Signature Sign Off…
Big thanks to Mr. Blue for his input and general insight and much appreciation to you, our reader. What do you think of the album? What do you think of this review? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. This has been Cyan Music, Music Review corner.
Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Massa Red, Dear Music fan, and lover – This is Cyan Music; do take a seat, and breathe…
We are here! And we’ve got the review vibes on our side to delve into the debut full-length solo album of Kumasi born, Bantama King, BBnZ signed Ghanaian Hip-Hop/Afro-Pop artiste Linford Kennedy Amankwaa, better known by his stage name Ko-Jo Cue. He has titled this record #ForMyBrothers. This is uncharted territory for Cue as this happens to be his debut album but the journey to the release of the record has been nothing short of exciting as the singles ‘You Alone’ and ‘Dzo’ which featured the general of the Worlarmy; Worlasi, have been warmly received by his audience and fan base. The record in question is 15 songs long with a play time running close to an hour, littered with stellar features including musical genius A.I., J Derobie from Mr. Eazi’s Empawa fame, Adomaa, Fu, Raphaela and Dzaydzorm representing the Black Girls Glow movement as well as talents like Lady Donli, Anae, Boyd, Maayaa and Show Dem Camp. It seeks to show how much work went into this whole album, and we can’t leave out the star-studded production team which included Pen & Paper other half Shaker, international acclaimed producer Juls, IPappi, Juicexxx and The Gentleman from V.I Music. The organic excitement generated around this record initially wasn’t the most glamorous, but it received plaudits and was touted as album of the year by many fans who related to the story telling and themes captured uniquely on each of the records. So without further ado, let’s get into this.
Personal sentiments, Content and Lyricism, Vocals and Production in no Particular order…
The question is where to start? Any angle we take this from is met with absolute awesomeness. One thing is clear; Ko-Jo Cue is underrated in the industry. The complexion of this album and the themes it sheds light on is dextrous; it is real, relatable and thought-provoking. And it isn’t just that. The presentation as well as the curation of just the right talent to get the messages over the finish line were masterpieces in themselves. This is hands down, probably one of the best albums this year released by a Hip-Hop/Afro-Pop artiste and we can put our necks on the line for that statement. Massa Red who is our resident cover art analyst, couldn’t help but weigh in with his thoughts on the record as well as add his comments on the album art;
‘The fact that an artiste can dig deep and reveal all these feelings and thoughts from a personal perspective in this body of art as a narrative isn’t something we can take lightly. Cue talked about things a lot of us are struggling to have conversations about and he dealt with them in the most humane way possible’.
‘With regards to the the album art, well to say the least, it happens to be very conceptual and thought-provoking as far as I’m concerned. The direction of photography here is admirable and it speaks volumes. The concept Cue was trying to pull off in my humble opinion was that of a generational line where there wasn’t enough guidance, resulting in what has now affected the current generation and the ones to come, ergo the character of the son and the grandson as seen represented on the album cover. The actions of the characters speak for themselves and could be perceived in so many ways by the viewer depending on his/her perspective or viewpoint. Conceptually, together with the music on the record, this might be one of the best album covers created that embodies the narrative the artist is presenting.’
Massa Red on the essence of #ForMyBrothers and the Album art representation
‘I swear this album was made for me!’
Mr. Blue on the direction of #ForMyBrothers
Interestingly, in the circles we find ourselves in, a lot of fans and listeners expressed the same sentiment, it just feels like there’s a track for everyone on the record and there isn’t a compromise on quality or talent to deliver. So for context, to say we can choose just one favourite off the record, would be a lie. That’s how good this record is. For a debut album, this is stellar. The way the album has been put together, it has no choice but to be a hit and if that doesn’t happen, it tells us more than a lot about music listeners and the judges in the music industry in Ghana. The album opens with a very thought-provoking song, and the record ends with a question, ‘Rich dad, poor dad. which one you born a, you go be?’ ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ happens to be the title of a famous book by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. In itself, that was a sign that the journey of listening to this album was going to be an interesting one and the next song just happened to up the ante; where we hear the artist speak and shed light on the issue of how he was raised and how the stuff parents say to their kids affect their growth; Cue did justice to the whole topic and if you grew up in a Ghanaian home, it was a bullseye and spot on both from a father and a mother’s perspective. The production was just pure bliss, the string instruments immersed in the beat’s tempo was a match made in heaven. ‘Dua’ is definitely bound to be a record that would be replayed outrightly, that is if a listener doesn’t get hooked on the Intro track.
The amazing thing is that none of the features were out of place or out of sync, and they all absolutely bodied the parts they were signed up for; a notable thing is that this album combines a variety of genres in Ghanaian music as well as most of the arts that have stepped into the limelight in recent years; rap and storytelling, vocals, spoken word and poetry. To have all these elements in an album and for it to match the hype, it speaks highly of Cue’s fanbase as well as how much he understands his audience. The amazing thing is that Sarkodie tried a similar thing on his last full-length album dubbed ‘Highest’ when he introduced Britain based spoken word poet Suli Breaks who featured with a number of poetry inclined snippets on the album – however, because of the nature of his audience, it literally went nowhere, because the listeners could care less what spoken word was, as it was done in English with a voice in a British accent, it didn’t help the case he was trying to build. Workaholics Anonymous is probably the song any 9 – 5 worker and business owner plays on their way to work. The song details the story telling of the grind in Accra as both an employer and an employee and the frustrations that come with both positions. Cue did not mince words here and everything he said was perfectly delivered. The interpolation of Kwesi Arthur’s ‘Grind Dey’ was an added bonus although aesthetically, the song would have been okay without it. A personal imagination however, would be to see how Akan would’ve fit into the record ‘Smiling’, the song is amazing yet still open to so much experimentation, that, is a mark of a good record. It faintly brings to mind Twitch’s ‘Happy Everyday’, the melodies are almost similar in a sense. The way the hook was composed and the complimenting nature of the instruments with it is just perfect. We weren’t surprised when we heard Cue say ‘it’s Juls on the beat…’, his fingerprints are all over it. Easily could be the best record on this album just because of how it is set up; afro soul rap, the intro chants, the horns and the guitar tone. Mr. Blue went in deep with his thoughts;
the general tone of the song is pretty melancholic and a bit drab but extremely interesting. Not sure if they did it deliberately but the lyrics and the instrumental compliments each other. Cue also made some Lauren Hill references in other songs. I caught one of them. Pretty sure there are Jay Z references in there somewhere. Even his rhyming sounded a little bit Jay Z – esque sometimes and that just shows Cue’s influences more or less coming into this album.
Mr Blue on the record ‘Smiling’
The highlife direction and the A.I. feature wasn’t something we ever imagined happening, but they pulled it off tremendously, and Maayaa did justice to her part on ‘Muddy Story’, you could just feel the ‘Asa’ mood her voice created. It’s understandable if lyricists around think some of the lines fell flat and some popped, the truth is that’s sort of how rap is. Some lines are bound to be fire and others might just let you smile; the mix and the end products are what matters and the lyricism on the records was decent, Cue focused a lot on his storytelling and he pulled it off quite well. ‘Never Mind’ mentions a few themes that we in this generation need to have conversations on, mental health, depression, abuse by family members and the ever-increasing stresses of life. And Cue doesn’t mince words with how he ends it, ‘if you can’t help yourself, I think you need help’. It doesn’t get any truer than that. Well, it did, when he talked about what a fan who had lost faith in him thought on his track ‘Loser’. We haven’t yet heard a song that Worlasi underperformed on so of course, ‘Dzo’ was nothing short of impressive. The 2 songs that probably showed and embodied how much depth this album possessed happened to be the one with several features; ‘From My Sisters’, the girls were phenomenal; from the vocals to the rap verses down to the spoken word at the end and the skit that came after it. The second record to that regard was the intro to the outro of the album. The atmosphere that ‘Survivor’s guilt’ creates in order to pave the way for Shii the Song is simply emotional, and Cue himself didn’t have a lot to say about that particular record on his interview because quite frankly, the emotional connection on the record is universally shared by all humans, regarding life, success, and losing loved ones. Survivor’s guilt is a state of mind and condition we all fall into from time to time, and the lyrics, you feel bad for doing good for yourself says it all for us. The emotion and realness that flooded Shii the Song at the end summed it all up. Cue’s verse over the emotional tone the keys deliver coupled with the vocal performance of Adomaa and the choir-like vocals were mighty enough to carry the song’s weight; the perfect note to end the album on. Breathless, just exceptionally breathless.
Concluding…
This is one review we’ve enjoyed; with Cue showing his prowess and dominance in the rap game with this album. The record was nothing short of amazing and if people hadn’t already recognised it yet, Cue has cemented himself on very solid ground when it comes to the best to ever do it. 100% dope. Album of the Year by all standards.
The Signature Sign Off…
Big thanks to Mr. Blue and Massa Red for their input and general insight. Much appreciation to you, our reader. What do you think of the album? What do you think of this review? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. This has been Cyan Music, Music Review corner.
Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Massa Red, Dear Music fan, and lover- This is Cyan Music; do take a seat, and breathe…
Because we are here to review the latest record from VGMA Artiste of the year for the year 2017; Joseph Oscar Mettle known more popularly as; Joe Mettle. After releasing his last album dubbed ‘God of Miracles’ which had hit songs ‘Bo Noo Nie’ and ‘Owanwani’ as singles, earning him the prestigious and much-coveted award in 2017, Joe is at it again this year with his latest album themed ‘Wind of Revival’. Maintaining the 13 track playlist from 2 years ago, the whole album runs a full length of roughly an hour and fifteen minutes. The singles off this particular album happen to be ‘My Everything’ and ‘Mehia Wo Yesu’. We’re here for the ‘review Netflix’ so sit back, relax and breathe with us.
Personal sentiments, Content and Lyricism, Vocals and Production in no Particular order…
Going into this album was a grey area particularly because there hadn’t been so much buzz about the album when it came out. Most of the songs on the album were good upon listening, although we have issues with a couple, actually right at the beginning – the opening track. And we know people will have a divided opinion on this but, to be honest ‘My Everything’ seemed off the day it was released as a single. The mixing didn’t sound clean and the concept never landed; it’s a nice song to listen to but it has a boring element about it. This may be an assumption but people jumped on it at the time they did because to be honest there wasn’t any other track out there for the Christian community in a sense. Hasn’t this happened a lot of times? Sonnie Badu’s ‘Baba’, Joe’s own ‘Owanwani’ and ‘Bo Noo Nie’ or the currently blazing one – ‘Excess Love’. It’s almost like we are a one track hit community just waiting for the next single to make the waves and hop on it – and if you don’t know we are telling you; it’s one of the reasons we review music through an album perspective. We have simply killed our album culture with no hesitation but that conversation is for another day, back to the album. Massa Red had this to say on the album art:
Joe Mettle’s album cover has always been a picture of himself with the album name. and for the past 2 album covers, I haven’t really seen a concept in any. This particular cover art to me looks like a poster for one of his shows rather than an album cover. The part I find very interesting is the way the ‘Wind of Revival’ text has been stylized. It looks very simple and clean. The drawing of shapes to depict the wind is amazing, as well as the overlay of the golden color on the text. In general, photography and design for the album cover are okay. I think moving forward Uncle Joe can at least put some effort into creating a concept to make his album covers more interesting.
– Massa Red on the Album Art of Wind of Revival
One of the favorites on this record has to be ‘Pentecost’. It easily could’ve been the album opener because it connotes the theme of this record and communicates the message on a bright and spirit-filled note. The arrangement in the song was simple, the instrumentation wasn’t complex at all and the way it began couldn’t have been better. The tracks that followed only complimented the album’s tone and complexity. ‘Power of Prayer’ had our ears for the right and wrong reasons. There is an interesting observation noted about this genre of music; lyrics found here are mostly platitudes and they rather seem devoid of introspection and personal sensation; again this is inclined to the lyricism rather than the emotional connection a song creates; a clear distinction is the fact that there’s a feeling when engaged in music presented in the way ‘Pentecost’ was presented; the atmosphere alters and there’s a tune with the esoteric and the abstract – translation; there’s the feeling of being connected to something divine or in a more general way something bigger. It’s either the platitudes or the nature metaphors and personifications all pointing to the object of faith. This isn’t throwing shade on effort but it’s as though it’s become more or less an escape route for lyricism in Christian or gospel music. The books of Psalms reeks of this; David in himself was a living haiku. What we think is that the musicians who at least stand in the limelight as a representation seem to have reached a collective writer’s block and so just keep writing the same lyrics all over again; the general plus side that has most probably been the saving grace for this would be instrumentation. That’s a big kudos to instrumentalists who are ever-evolving, ready to learn and keep things fresh.
Joe Mettle never rhymed even once!
– Mr. Blue on Power of Prayer’s lyrical construction.
People actually make the claim that hymns are outdated and do not fit into the current timeline of Christianity but the truth is they are in more ways than one the pinnacle of excellence in songwriting; it also means the skill in songwriting is a very necessary part of the making of the music though others would argue that God and the spirit, in general, don’t require a multitude of lyrics for the song to be powerful (again this goes out of context to point to the emotional connection rather than what we are actually talking about). The content isn’t necessarily sub-par because there have been amazing songs with the simplicity of lyrics, but the thought is – how much more spaces and how much more of the world can be reached if the ante is upped with songwriting? In conversations like this artistes like Hillsong, Elevation Worship or Bethel Music and the like step into the fray; Hillsong’s ‘Oceans’ is absolutely amazing lyric-wise and so they have an A for effort but it doesn’t mean their music is perfect so to speak – more than a few instrumentalists say that they don’t really listen to their kind of music simply because the instrumentation sounds a lot like ‘noise’. So, pros and cons everywhere. ‘Power of Prayer’ was a brilliant composition and very noteworthy yet it underwhelmed lyrically; possibly the stanza could have benefited from a rhyme scheme. What we are saying is that we don’t think the lyrics on this record were up to the task.
That aside the instrumentation was sweet and beautifully composed, ‘Hide me’ – by far also favorite saw ruthless vocals, Joe was especially vibrant and the instrumentation didn’t miss a heartbeat. Topped off with the guest appearance of Jonathan Nelson on this made it a genuine masterpiece, you could feel that it was certainly Jonathan’s kind of song and he seemed way more comfortable on it than he was on ‘Hallelujah’. We get what the idea was for ‘Hallelujah’ but it looked like an upgraded version of the opening track; in one sense it was probably supposed to be the jam track on the album, the plot twist is, it wasn’t the jam enough. We have to mention that the feature game on this record was stellar. Akosua Kyeremanteng’s opening on ‘Spirit Move’ set the tone for the song perfectly and her voice was delightful to listen to. The only issue we had with the features was with Makamfo which featured Calvin Hammond. The idea was present and we understand what they wanted to do; the chemistry was existent but it seemed like they were subtly crashing into each other with every ad-lib or singing over each other as would be the more mundane phrase.
Concluding…
The album ends on a convincing note with the last record which like others we believe pretty much summed up what this album was about. Overall, the album was good, we’ll go back to it and listen to some songs from time to time.
The Signature Sign Off…
Big thanks to Mr. Blue and Massa Red for their input and general insight and much appreciation to you, our reader. What do you think of the album? What do you think of this review? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. This has been Cyan Music, Music Review corner.
Cyan Music 