Artiste: Chidey
EP: Allow Me To Be Frank
Genre: Rap
Tracks: 7
Producer: SynX
Making real
efforts to contribute to keeping the musical space enlivened, through the
release of an EP, Chidey, a talker, shares his views on many themes of societal
worth. With songs like Buhari, Shoot Bird
Mama Fly, SBMF, the Allow Me to be
Frank EP could be called an ‘EP of reminders’ as it tries to cast
listeners’ minds back to previous events in governance.
Adhering no
strict order, other tracks include; End-time Pikin, New Song, If I Don’t Make
Heaven, Sick Kid, and Stir It Up, featuring the legendary Bob Marley.
Kicking off with
the compelling track, Buhari, with lines like: ““no be sey
you too dey waka, but you dey for everywhere, no be sey you too dey fly pass
but you be like your president….” And “baby you’re hot I can see that…you don
go round the naija in 80 days…,” Chidey juxtaposes the style of leadership of
Mr President which was marked by a chain of trips at the inception of his
government to a certain wayward belle who is seen travelling everywhere doing
her ‘business’
The song also castigates
girls who are predisposed to flirting and promiscuity as undergraduates and
talks about the poor performance of such girls as well as evoking pity as the
struggles of the parents of the girls are boldly painted in the line; “…and for
bed you dey do leg over but every semester you dey pack carry-overs while your
parents dey struggle to pay rent, you dey for campus dey form….”
Speaking of this
class of girls and understanding their operations, in the song Endtime
Pikin (a phrase used to refer to children who display a weird magnitude
of cleverness mixed with some subtle levels of negative inclinations or
cultures) Chidey tells his listeners the modus operandi of girls and boys in
the ‘love game’ by taking the positions of both sexes at different points in
the song. From the standpoint of the girls, he says, “na so e carry me go
shoprite, I chop em money so tey nepa off light…e think sey e easy to date girl
wey her skin light…. Anyways, I know the gist wey I go scope am if we reach
house I go tell am sey my period I no see am….” He goes on to expose in verse
two the conversation guys have about girls, especially the ones they have stripped,
when they are together and so he says “…that her bra I don mark am e dey red in
colour. She still dey wear am till last week Tuesday…see this girl wey every
guy for booth dey use merry”. From the diction employed in the track, Chidey
does not try to be a saint, (who is?) and so, he talks about and admits his flaws
as a human in If I don’t Make Heaven. He identifies with them and admits
responsibility for the wrong things he finds himself doing; and also reckons
that help lies in seeking the face of God, hence the chorus: “I seek the face
God...,” delivered in a high-pitched vocal by the eccentric vocalist, Cilia.
However, with
words like “…but after everything I think I’m better than you coz I do the do
and I accept the do. But you do the do and blame it on Redbull or Jack Daniels,
someone else or even the two. You do all the wrongs, pretend and hide under
your shell…,”he slams those who engage in immoralities and blame it on alcohol
or others instead of having the balls and grits to own up to their actions.
Despite all the
flaws admitted in If I Don’t Make Heaven, the rising artiste still counts his
blessings. The reality of this EP stands as an evidence of the many blessings
God has brought his way, and New Song is the track Chidey uses to
express his gratitude to God.
Still taking a
swipe at the leaders, Shoot Bird Mama Fly, SBMF is another relishable song that points
a finger at public office holders (politicians). Here, Chidey reminds his
audience yet again of how they come to citizens with various mouth-watering and
jaw-dropping promises in their quest for the peoples’ mandate; and preaches not
accommodating excuses especially when they fail in the chorus. Hence the verse;
“see we been see when you come last year dey tell us wetin dey sweet for ear,
sey you go change everything wey dey for here, even transport go free no need
for T.fare… those wey wan study law go be judge like freebee , sey you go make
our life sexy like bikini”.
My verdict
Titling a song
with the name of your president is highly crafty. The effect of this of isn’t
hard to feel as it creates a rush to listen to it first before any other given
the controversy twirling round the name. Using a title like Buhari
to create a temptation and an eagerness to listen is commendable and liked
well. Recall, this reviewer termed this EP as an EP of reminders? Good! This
track makes one replay the irate and pejorative comments expressed by Nigerians
during the beginning of his government. The beat, mingled with some Jesse Jags
feel is great. Good intro too.
Another song
with significant reminders is the SBMF; which is coming at a crucial
time Nigerians are anticipating, and making sly readiness (in some quarters)
for the next election. Here, Chidey tells his listeners that through the same
election, bad leadership could be removed and encouraged them to vote when the
time comes to avoid another set of excuses. This earns him a double thumbs up!
And oh, did I mention that the beat is good too!? Hell yeah, it is. Simple,
danceable.
You can’t talk
about this EP ignoring If I Don’t Make Heaven. Through questions like “will I make it
one day or will I die in the way?” “Will I ever ride a Boughatti or will it be
my ride to hell?” “Will they ever play my song on the radio?” life’s
precariousness that trouble the hearts of success-seeking youths is expressed.
These uncertainties are enough to make one seek the face of God. The simplicity
of the beat makes it more enjoyable. With the reckoning that at some point
everyone needs to seek and keep seeking the face of God; he assumes the role of
a preacher. This tract embodies first class simplicity.
Furthermore,
certain elements like allusions and humour sprinkled in some tracks makes the
EP worthwhile. For instance, the singer infuses humour through the line: “looking
at her like mama Nkechi’s buns”. The singer also alludes to movies such as 80 Days Around the World, George of the
Jungle, in Buhari. You can’t ignore the puns too!
Again, the
allusion to Edoho (the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire presenter) and Lampard
(the footballer) whose surnames is ‘Frank’ in If I Don’t Make Heaven as
used in the line ‘and when I’m done Edoho go change him name. And when I’m done
Lampard go change him name’, is quite clever as it diverts one’s attention to
the title of the EP.
Although the EP
is laced with strong messages touching crucial matters in the Nigeria society, it
could however be questioned in certain ‘microscopic’ areas. For instance, in a
song like Buhari which evokes a
seething curiosity, one anticipates the theme to dwell more on the current
state of events in the country. Though the twist embedded as a deviation from
the expectation is commendable, the song’s flawed in that it pays more
attention to the whims, charm, the sexual prowess and seductiveness of a
certain girl. This questions the aptness of the title.
The lines in Stir It Up seemed forced into the beat;
especially those with rhymes like “grow cold”, “stone cold”, “procold”, etc. While SBMF could fly without the inordinate
and undue intro since it adds less to the song besides its length, expunge the
intro, and SBMF is a blast! On the flipside, the turn off in If I Don’t Make Heaven is the auto tone
in the chorus. Given that Cilia already has a high pitch voice, the auto tone
could be deemed an error which impedes clarity in no small measure.
It is important
to note that this review does not concern itself with the niceties of music
production, it however refuses to ignore the absence of a thorough blending of
Chidey’s voice and the sound. Could it be a mixing and mastering kink?
Whatever, the case, it percolates in most, if not all the songs.
Again, contrary
to famous views which throws less care on rappers’ voice, Chidey should work on
his voice. Good vocal coordination helps increase the enjoyability of any genre
of music.
However, waiving
off these ‘questions’, the Allow-Me-To-Be-Frank EP deserves commendation,
promotion too. The messages, which hint that Chidey isn’t in the band of noise
makers who cook beats and gibberish talks, heralded by it need to be heard.
Lest I forget, with Igbo language dominating the EP, another Phyno seems to be
afoot in him.
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