The wait is over. Following the dizzying heights his record-breaking fourth studio album Made in Lagos presented him, Grammy-Award winning superstar Wizkid returns with his fifth and critical opus, More Love Less Ego. Speaking to Apple Music host Dotty, he revealed “The world right now just needs more love more than anything else. That’s where I’m at”. He went on to describe the hybridity of sounds including incorporating the world’s most popular genre right now, Amapiano “I make all types of music. I can’t put myself in a box. There’s nothing I can’t make. I’m an African musician, but before that I’m a musician. I just want people to realize how much God has blessed me and how I use this talent He’s blessed me with” the RCA signed stalwart opened up. With versatility part of his foray, the “Essence” emoter proves singularity is something he doesn’t necessarily conform to. He can color out of the Afrobeats lines casual listeners or critics might try to peg him to.
A father of four now, he says he is surrounded by so much love and he just wants to share it with his fans “The last record was showing you where I’m from, this time I just to show you what the world needs“ Assembling his go-to hit-maker in P2JMusic, they strike a chord of cohesion, higher vibrations, and have the perfect amount of efficacy to produce a long-lasting soundtrack of savory vibes that embody Wizkid’s energy and an artist of his standing can certainly experiment. There are no signs of an artist that has reached the peak of his powers and become complacent on the project, he instead breaks the mold of cockiness from the success he has garnered, and collectively celebrates his success with the people that have got him there – his fans. There are no standout anthems, or hip-busting numbers like “Joro”, it’s pure spell-binding tunes you can hearken anywhere at any given moment; the cook out, a car ride, the club, a light smoke sess, – it’s a perfect joyride.
A pompous return, filled with ecstasy and pizzazz, Wizkid is in a state of peace and love “I can make a gospel album, and it’s still going to be just vibes. You can play it in the club”
The Review:
The album begins with the single “Money & Love”, his caliber of saccharine vocals is unmatched as the tempo picks up and he lets us know what we are getting on the record. A laidback placid offering that will contain candy-filled mutters and gingered bars directed more so to the ladies. The music almost feels spiritual as he babbles “Money & loving, give it to me o” and the music hits like warm sunrays on a summer’s eve.
We then get to connect with Wizkid on the traveled Amapiano sound through “Balance”. His melodies are subtle to the beat which contrasts with its heavy log drums in the background. He begins to arouse and even find hid sweet spot as he jibes into falsettos at certain instances on the track.
“Bad To Me” grew on many hence its amazing performance on the charts. A certain serendipity filled this track as its racy vibe was too contagious to resist.
“2 Sugar” we see Wizkid tap one of the most vibrant names in the music industry right now in Ayra Starr. The pair cast out bad energy and Wizkid peppers the record with his clever melodies and sounds he is known to stir. A fervent love song, the pulse of the record is love and you can feel it sprout out of the speakers as it arrests you; a contender for the track of the record. Ayra is definitely a name you should acclimate yourself with because her music is raw stardust, and her hooks are inviting.
Wizkid allows Shensea & Skillibeng to coast through with the island tantalizers as they get vulnerable and express their innermost sexual desires on “Slip & Slide”. Tracks like “Deep” see Tay Iwar come into the fray where Wizkid returns into his romantic intimate self almost explaining his sexual emotion in a frankly tasteful way. The saxophones neutralize the audacious messaging, and this what makes Wizkid a really uncanny artist, the fact that he can be really vanquish yet still retain some reticence and mystery to him is interesting. Tracks such as “Wow” with Naira Marley and British bad boy Skepta are staked to blaze up clubs in the UK, meanwhile we get the Wizkid of old on tracks like “Pressure” where he invokes the classy fabric of Afrobeats. The Amapiano element is dominant and consistent throughout the record and this makes the album feel like a body of work, rather than an attempt to pad up radio singles together. Don Toliver makes a cameo, but falls short of expectation in terms of the hype attached to his performances on other tracks. “Frames” feels like a closure and an ending. In summary, this record will stack up as a breezy soundtrack, rather than become the larger-than-life anthem helmed Made In Lagos effort we got two years back. It can be celebrated as an attempt Wizkid took an artistic risk to backburn his trademark silky Afrobeats sound for a more vibrant genre that was more relevant. Even with that curve, he manages to make the sound almost personal to him and it will be a major breakthrough that an artist in the scale of Wizkid actually adopted that sound.
Listen to the album below:
