Nigerian rapper and serial hitmaker, Olamide, has released a new album, UY Scuti, which has generated a lot of buzz from Nigerian music enthusiasts, less than 48 hours after it premiered on music streaming platforms.
The 32-year-old, widely regarded as one of Africa’s biggest indigenous hip hop acts, dropped his ninth studio album in the early hours of Friday, June 18, 2021. The record, wholly produced by Eskeez, features collaborations with long-time friend Phyno, as well as fast-rising artistes like Fave, Jaywillz and Layydoe. UY Scuti, which comes barely seven months after the critically-acclaimed Carpe Diem, is ten tracks long, with a running time of 28 minutes.
In a buildup to the album’s premiere, Olamide, who released one album every year between 2012 and 2017, described UY Skuti as an evolution of his sound.
“My priority is to express myself freely like a bird right now”, he explained earlier this week, in an interview with The Guardian UK. “If I feel something, I just want to go in there and talk about it as much as I can. It’s back to how it all started for me: just making music with my feelings and however it comes.”
In a message to fans, Olamide was not shy to point out his favourite track on the new record.
“Kindly let me know your favourite record on #UYSCUTI so the videos can start rolling out! Though mine is JULIE”, he tweeted, a few hours after the album had been made available to the public.
The release of UY Scuti has been treated to positive reactions by a number of Nigeria’s music enthusiasts. Don Jazzy, CEO of Mavin Records, described the album as brilliant.
“The bro, Olamide, just blessed us with an amazing body of work”, he tweeted.
Ycee, who collaborated with Olamide on the smash hit “Jagaban” in 2015, praised him for taking a different direction with his sound.
“Loving this new BADDO! Y’all don’t sleep on it”, Ycee wrote on his Twitter account.
Popular Nigerian promoter, Dotun The Energy God, also had nice things to say about the new LP.
“Olamide just reminded us all why they call him Baddo. He left us in a trance. This is a damn good album, beyond mature, magically different and heartfelt.”
UY Scuti is available on all streaming services.
