Brand New OD

By Olanike Fagbule

“There’s been a change of plans up in the air is where I want your hands” OD states at the beginning of his new single ‘Alujo’ outrightly indicating that what you are about to listen to is not from the OD you used to know.

“Alujo” may not mean anything to an average Nigerian youth who is deeply rooted in the evolving era of hip hop, but for those who are fans of 9ice, Dagrin and Lord of Ajasa, the meaning immediately sinks.

Coined from two Yoruba words “Alu” (To beat) and “Jo” (Dance) ,Alujo has come to mean a danceable beat, and yes your ‘favorite rapper’s favorite rapper’ spat on this beat.

Upon joining X3M music early this year, OD made a complete makeover from his usual baggy jeans and Oversize T- shirt persona. He explains to NET “. ‘It is intentional I just want to show that one doesn’t have to be dressed in a particular way to prove to the world that you are a hard core rapper. You can shop at the same spot where bankers shop and still represent your own art. Hip hop is a state of mind, a culture, a movement. It is much more than what you rock’

And for those who have followed his interesting career since he started raping in 1998, they can attest that Alujo is not a song Over Dose would have been caught dead doing some years back.

But then he states that this is something for the streets “Name begins with an O/ill with the words and sick with the flow/ something for the streets I rep, you know/where we work hard just to make this dough”

Although details of his album still remains scarce, some cuts from the album made available to NET show a detailed memoir of the rapper since his last album “Don’t hate”; revealing that this might be an autobiographical project. Besides having Mode 9 as a musical guest, OD’s yet-to-be-titled LP also lines up collaborations with Terry tha Rapman, Sasha, Black Solo and AT with productions from Kraft, Ill Fingerz and Bernstein.

“Alujo” featuring Solar is already being touted as the first proper single off the album, and while we loved if “I catch you” and “Got to love me”, radio and fans will more likely embrace this one.

“The song has a very catchy hook, and of course that is what the radio and the fans want” Rhythm FM’s Lanre Onipede popularly known as Elboogie told NET on Wednesday December 2, 2009.

MTV Base’s head of talent Mary Ero (who by the way, is pregnant with her first baby) agrees with him “I love the fusion of trad and modern, it makes the song unique and catchy’

‘It is a nice danceable track, one that has the potential to be a hit- it won’t sound bad in a club either” Beat FM’s Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi comments 

Guess OD understood this when he unleashed the catch phrase “Wherever you are from E no matter, you are rocking with the best yes nobody is hotter, here’s something for you, your moms and your papa”