J Martins – Elevated At Last?

By Chiagoziem Onyekwena

Within a relatively short period of time, J. Martins has been ‘Elevated’ from a brilliant but struggling producer going nowhere in Enugu, to the very top of Lagos’ A-list producers’ pile. He’s been ‘Elevated’ from an average singer searching for his own sound and identity, to becoming the pioneer of the re-emergence of HighLife music on the radio in recent months.

Flat caps and dark jackets have never looked so good on another man, and that statement is coming from a (very) straight guy. Indeed the man has a lot to be thankful for and on his second mainstream studio album Elevated, the Abia State indigene clearly is.

’08’s Good or Bad was an enormous hit and few would argue that the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa thoroughly outshone his then-relatively unknown host. However, rather than returning to relative obscurity, J.Martins cleverly used that song’s momentum to launch the equally infectious Oyoyo, the lead single from Elevated, only a few months after his opus Get Serious clocked a reported 3 million copies in sales. The similarities between the two songs are so glaring that even though the song was roughly 4 minutes long; at 3.30 I was still expecting Timaya to chime in. Theme- the same, message-the same, melody – similar, lyrics-very similar, even the two music videos are very similar. It’s apparent that J.Martins has found his niche sound, and the 10 song-long Elevated is absolutely phenomenal when he employs that template but is somewhat unconvincing whenever he deviates from it.

Save for a few strings, the love –themed Iva and the inspirational Believe follow the J.Martins sound template to a tee. But it’s when his partners in HighLife revival, Bracket gatecrash the party on Jukpa that J demonstrates his mastery of the art of constructing music that is rhythmically simple, infectiously melodic and at the same time, motivating to the soul. In no time, Jukpa makes your body wiggle from side to side. If Martin’s had stuck to this type of music, Elevated would have been something close to  a masterpiece. But unfortunately, the producer chooses to invite guests that steer his sound down an uncertain path. Rapper Vector ruined the remix for Good or Bad with lazy rhymes while the appropriate word to describe the Hip Hop-themed Chameleon would be – overcrowded. In addition, Martin’s vocal range is far too narrow to make Change an enjoyable song and when he all but shies away from his singing responsibilities on Kudi, Kenya’s love child Wyre saves the song with the type of performance that explains why his services are well-sought after throughout the continent.

Mr. Martins is on a roll and a few average songs on Elevated can’t impede his progress, but they say to whom much is given much is also expected. Don’t get me wrong, Elevated is a good album, but it’s not exactly what Nigerians were eagerly anticipating from ‘Mr Tonyo Tonyo’ himself.

ALBUM RATING – 4/5