Since the 20th century, music has become one the most diverse form of performance art and this diversity is well represented in Nigerian music as our style of music has expanded beyond singular identities with various musicians drawing influences from both local and global sounds.
The fullness of this diversity is often enjoyed when musicians with different musical identities (genre and vocal textures) team up on a record to make magic for their fans. This year alone in Nigeria, we have seen musicians dish out collaborative records in their thousands – some of these songs were good, some were bad and some were definitely ugly.
We’ve also witnessed rapper Falz the Bahd Guy and alternative singer Simi take Nigerian musical collaborations to another level – the chemistry between these two was so perfect that they had to release the Chemistry EP.
The first time Skales and Burna Boy released a collaboration was in December 2016 – a heavy Afrobeat influenced tune titled Temper, off the Never Say Never album by Skales. Burna Boy introduced the song with a hook from Sorrow Tears and Blood by late Afrobeat legend Fela using his melodious baritone voice that complimented the tinny vocal texture of Skales thus making it an instant magic! (Damn shame they didn’t clear the Fela sample though…)
The duo also collaborated on another song titled Gbefun One Time, the third track on the same album. One was initially reluctant about listening to this record for fear that they might not hit the mark. But after a listen, it became obvious that these two possess a very powerful musical chemistry. Burna Boy once again started off the song with his baritone voice while Skales ad-libbed before taking the first verse. The keyboard progression, their vocal textures and the energy all came together and formed a perfect harmony.
The type of musical chemistry that exists between Skales and Burna boy is one that is both pleasing and respectable as they have both maintained relatively high standards (vocally and lyrically) in their collaborations.
It would be interesting to see the two young men put out more records together and even take it up a notch by releasing a collaborative project for their fans and for the culture.
The idea of making a collaborative album is one that is slowly being adopted by Nigerian musicians even though it is already a common trend amongst western artistes and in other parts of Africa.
It should not go to waste.