I Didn't Like Seyi Vibez's album...
Seyi Vibez's new album 'Billion Dollar Baby' is another brilliant album from the trenches.
I didn't like Seyi Vibez's album, 'Billion Dollar Baby', the first time I listened to it, no cap. I didn't like it and held firm to my assessment for a while.
Two things made me listen to the album again. Firstly, people who I respect their music opinions started to tweet about how good the album is.
Secondly (and more importantly), I couldn't escape the album. It seems like on every street and every corner in Mainland Lagos, someone is playing 'Chance (Na Ham)' or 'Bullion Van.'
Egbon adugbos, the scammers trapping in the trenches, the hood babes and the next generation of hustlers love Seyi Vibez's album. It is as ubiquitous in the hood as Van Cleef bracelets and vapes in any Lagos social setting.
The genre of this album is jokingly referred to as 'afro-adura' on Twitter. Adura is the Yoruba word for prayer. It's a Twitter joke but sums up the content of the album - a hustler's prayer.
The intercessions or prayer points are a one-size-fits-all for hustlers, irrespective of where they are in the trenches - don, underboss or foot soldier.
Billion Dollar Baby is also a celebratory record from Seyi Vibez, who has escaped poverty. It’s praise and worship. It is praise to Allah for beating the poverty trap and worship of the almighty USD.
Seyi Vibez is the hood star who despite making it big, still cruises in his G-wagon through the inner city, motivating other hustlers, legally or illegally, on the come-up.
On this album, you can feel his presence roaming the streets, smiling with his grills as he reminisces about the old days.
It is in this world, omitted in the glitzy Instagram reels or Snapchat videos of Afrobeats, that Seyi Vibez constructs his album.
Hood bangers like 'Kun Faya Kun (Be and It Is)’ and 'Ogochukwu' are mixed uniquely for the compressed world of the trenches.
On some of the hardest tracks LP, the instrumental takes a back seat to allow Seyi Vibez to go HAM (pun intended) on the record. I initially thought the mixing style was odd, but it later made sense.
You have to understand how people in this world consume music. Seyi Vibez is a ghetto star, and his tales of survival and success are the centrepiece.
Visually, this is how the scene plays out - with music blasting from his German whip, Seyi Vibez turns down the volume of his hard-knocking beats to bless his listeners/crowd with his afro adura lines in real-time. By doing this, you get to feel the impact of his lines.
Doing this replicates the energy of seeing Seyi Vibez, the hood star, performing live for his hood friends from his expensive whip.
It has been a strong year for artists in the trenches. Portable has fixed himself as the Hades of the street underworld with his antics and hood anthems.
Asake is the rocket man that shot to the moon and circled the world.
Seyi Vibez is the hood star who swings between the depth of the trenches and the plateau of mainstream thanks to his brilliant album.
Now, I love this album and believe Seyi Vibez has one of the most vital projects of 2022. You should give it a listen.
Happy Holidays
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That name seyi vibez has been there but I was un interested, till motolani tweeted about it and I decided to listen to album, been stock ever since