I vividly remember having a conversation with a friend saying that ‘Wizkid has the (afrobeats) world in his hands because making us wait this long for a tape is cruel but we still love him’. But you know what, core blimey it was worth it.
‘Made in Lagos’, is a 14 – track (masterpiece) album. It (finally) dropped last Thursday (29th Oct) at 11:11pm. Wizkid choose this specific time to celebrate the official birth time of this last-born son Zion. Real life #SentimentalThings.
Reason 1: It is currently sitting as a Top 20 in the Official Charts . Top 20 is great, but a Top 10 is GREATER! This will be the first afrobeats album to gain a Top 10 position… Do you want to be part of history?! 2020 has been full of narratives beyond our control, let’s control this narrative o’. RUN UP #MadeInLagos.
Reason 2: Wizkid is a big 30 year old man, this is mature music, he made a lot of these songs simply for the bedroom, the bae(stay)cations and those who just appreciate rhythm in the hip area (FYI this whole tape is being added to my famous ‘Afrobeat’s Love’ playlist). Wizkid has fans all over the world & many love him for many different reasons. A lot of people were expecting the same ginger/dance floor levels they received with the ‘Superstar’ & ‘Ayo’ album. Fair enough, those were great albums and have dominated afrobeats sets for many years – but person can’t mature anymore abi? person can’t make bangers for the slow jamz set in the last 30 mins of the club anymore abi?
I feel as though we are experiencing a different flavour of Wizzy Whiskey. Wizkid is the King of Lamba, I’ve taken Lamba on to mean ‘Vibez’. He has brought and continues to brings it to every track he graces – This is the evolution of Wiz, still the same superstar with another level unlocked.
Reason 3 : The sounds are sonically pleasing! All those involved in the production, mixing and mastering deserve a raise or an extremely comfortable bed to sleep like the royalty that they are. The way something is mixed and mastered is literally the difference between you switching a song on or off, turning it up or down – it very much controls how you feel when listening to a song. The quality of your headphones/speakers you play your music let’s you know the depth of whether a song was mixed and mastered properly. You can literally hear and feel everything! I’ve listened to Wizkid’s album on 8 different audio devices and I can confirm every single time – it sounds DIVINE. I have felt every note on every saxophone appearance (there is A LOT throughout the album).
Reason 4 : The feature game was STRONG. Burna Boy, Skepta, Damien Marley, H.E.R, Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Projexx, Tems, Terri – PERFECT. If there’s one thing Wizkid can do, its collaborate he switched for everyone he worked with but still managed to keep his style authentic. We heard more Reggae vibes on ‘Blessed’ with Damien Marley & ‘Smile’ with H.E.R, then he bucked Ella Mai half way on the R&B train for ‘Peice Of Me’. What can this man not do?? He worked with upcoming artists in Nigeria & Jamaica – Tems, Tay Iwar & Projexx – who all did the damn ting! What better platform to show off their talent on?
Now for the 0.5 of a reason : because ‘True Love’ is the BEST song to come out of 2020. Juls is one of the best producers that ever liveth and it’s a hill i’m willing to die on. I said what I said. Now back to the mission at hand…
There is still time! We find out tomorrow at 5pm if he can do it in his first week! Wishing STAR BOY all the best but the truth is… he will always be number 1 in my eyes and that’s all that matters tbh.
STREAM IT. BUY IT. AND DOWNLOAD IT.
Be informed. Be Entertained. Be You. 