Adekunle Gold's 'Afro Pop Vol. 1' Album Review
AG Baby Takes Flight!
“Evolve into the complete person you were intended to be.” Oprah Winfrey
Alchemy is a “medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold.”
Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold is perhaps the last alchemist living in the world. He turned the rusty iron beams of frustration and struggles with songs like ‘Pick Up’, and ‘My Life’, into his successful debut album aptly titled ‘Gold’ in 2016.
Now, on his third effort, ‘Afro Pop Vol. 1’, Adekunle Gold is on another quest, to transform his contemporary Highlife sound adorned with jewels from the 79th element to an elixir of Afro Pop credibility, relevance and perhaps longevity.
Today, the former boy-next-door known for his anthemic love songs, is rocking beaded dreads, dropping the F-bomb on his single ‘Something Different’ and going full braggadocious on ‘AG Baby’ featuring Nailah Blackman.
On his third album, Adekunle Gold takes a bet on himself that this creative risk will work. Ditching already released singles such as ‘Young Love’ and ‘Jore’ featuring Kizz Daniel, AG Baby shows he has a lot more where his new sound comes from.
On ‘Sabina’, the singer yearns for his lover to give him another chance. “Don’t give up on me yet. I’m coming back for what I lost” sings Adekunle Gold with enough convincing effort to allow a stray lover back in.
This track gently moves from a commanding thumping bass line to an almost weepy plea backed up by bitter-sweet guitar licks that move on as an ellipsis than a final dot.
‘Okay’ is a sweeping, cool effort from the singer as he tells a frustrated hater to stop barking at him. “I’m not the one, calm down. You know I’m not your problem” sings Adekunle Gold.
Instead of the standard machismo tone employed by many contemporary pop Nigerian singers, AG uses his gentlemanly demeanor to do away with his detractors.
An outstanding duet ‘Exclusive’ with Olayinka Ehi (produced by Pheelz who is seriously gunning for Nigeria’s Producer of the Year), comes up at the middle of the project.
On this record, two lovers come to the crossroads as they try to deal with the complications of dealing with an open relationship.
“You say I’m talking to them girls online. Baby we talked about it, said it was alright...You said it was cool. We’re open now. You’re talking yada yada yada. You was with him last night. Baby I was cool” reveals AG about his ‘entanglement’.
The lady on the other end shares her own side of the story. “We talked it out and we both agreed, but since you started you don’t show me any love. See he means nothing and I need you tonight” sings Olayinka Ehi.
With a haunting vocal backdrop, the entanglement fails to come to a resolution also. The question ‘are we exclusive now?’ is the elephant in the room, it hangs in the air in a grey mist.
It is by touching on this f*ck boy relationship drama that we see more highlights of the new AG. There is a worldly view on love that seems to dominate this project more than his previous efforts.
Prior to this album, romantic tension from Adekunle Gold seemed elastic and could snap back into place with his mastery of puppy-love records that cuddled the slightest dramas.
On his latest effort, the tension is ice cold, it snaps rather than going back to its original form.
Adekunle Gold’s pop is not sultry or sizzling hot. It is calm, breezy and slightly moody which is better suited to be the ambiance for 2 a.m musings on love lost and love gained rather than for X-rated grinds in the club.
It’s mood is similar to lo-fi Hip-Hop’s emotional template which leaves room for introspection, reflection and chilling in a mellow mental space, than compulsive decisions and proclamations.
An example of this is the LP’s lead single ‘Something Different’ which sees AG imagining the possibilities that could have been if he snagged his crush, “It coulda been something different. You say you want money baby o. We could be loving my honey. Kissing and cuddling.”
The peak of Adekunle Gold’s alchemy experiment is the last track on the LP, ‘My Ex’. This early morning reflection is pushed by regret. Here he admits to letting his ex back in, a decision based on weakness of the flesh and alcohol “You know everything is fine, when the whisky is nice.”
“You’re my mistake of yesterday. I had to learn the harder way” admits Adekunle Gold. He tells us his listeners not to judge him because he has judged himself.
This bout of regret and self-evaluation produced by Spax is unarguably his best offering on his 30-minute LP. AG is draped in a poncho coloured by pain and regret. It’s hard not to gaze at the tapestry of his flawed decision.
There are moments on this album when Adekunle Gold walks with the steady stride of a man who has come to live with his bad decisions. Sometimes he sounds weary but he does not allow his emotions to take over the best of him.
While most Nigerian pop stars are befuddled on what to do next when they sing about their shortcomings in affairs of the heart, Adekunle Gold takes his L like a man and continues moving forward.
Not every song on Afro Pop Vol. 1 is new territory. On ‘Water Carry Me’ and ‘Firewood’, this singer reminds us why he is one of the best acts to sing contemporary Highlife in the country.
The latter is the better of the Highlife songs but ‘Firewood’ featuring Tekno is not a bad song. On the subject matter of carnal desire, Tekno compliments AG’s cool approach with his fire-lamba style.
The only song that sticks out from the 10-track project is the collaboration with ‘Pretty Girl’ with Patoranking. The problem here is that it is sort of hard for Adekunle Gold to prove that he is a dancehall lord. While the production on this LP is solid, the production on this track settles for a standard riddim that betrays this artist’s bold attempt to experiment. ‘Pretty Girl’ is too safe, not ambitious enough for such an experimental album.
Adekunle Gold’s third solo album does away with the headiness of standard Nigerian contemporary music. AG brings his cool demeanor on this album and it’s one of the main ingredients of his elixir. It delivers a spine-tingling chill when consumed.
Backed by production that matches his tone and mood (and in some cases, elevates him), he delivers yet another strong LP.
With (the slightly edgy) Afro Pop Vol. 1, Adekunle Gold takes a career defining turn. Previously, he has led us down a road paved of gold bricks with his spin on Highlife music. Now, he puts us in a flying car with him behind the wheels and takes us to an uncharted territory.
You can stream Afro Pop Vol. 1 HERE