By Chiagoziem Onyekwena
TITLE – Superstar
PRODUCTION – DJ Klem, E.Kelly, Jay Sleek, Masterkraft, Q Beats, Samklef, Shizzi, Veebee
GUEST ARTISTES – Banky W, D’Prince, Skales, Wande Coal
RECORD LABEL/DISTRIBUTION – Empire Mates Entertainment/UBA Pacific
Hello Ayo ‘Wizkid’ Balogun, you are welcome. Young girls around the country have been waiting for a fresh-faced teenage (or almost teenaged) singing heartthrob like you for decades.
Just so you don’t get caught unawares when it happens, they will hyperventilate when you perform on stage, which in turn will make their boyfriends hate, scratch that, abhor you. Wait a minute, that’s happening already. But enjoy the attention now though, it might not be the same from the moment you start growing facial hair.
It’s perhaps with a view to ensuring Wizkid doesn’t get pigeonholed into this immaculate boy toy and jeopardize his career in the long term that the singer and his minders made a concerted effort to make a transition from Superstar’s sappy lead single ‘Holla at Your Boy’ to party songs more suited to the deeds of the elders like ‘Tease Me (Bad Guyz)’. Interestingly, Wizkid later returned to that same teenage demographic with the syrupy ballad ‘Gidi Girl’, only this time around, the uninspired love song found limited success on the charts. So later in ’10, Wizzy turned his back on the teenyboppers once again, putting out the party jam ‘Don’t Dull’, and on the album Superstar, Wizkid doesn’t look back. The song became a hit in places where minors aren’t normally allowed into, unfortunately for Wizkid though, his ability to somehow find a deadly weapon (an axe) in the seemingly innocuous statement ‘ask your mummy’ created a significant distraction in social media circles that stained his carefully cultivated uptown image. These stains unwittingly show up on the singer’s second album (his first secular album using the stage name Wizkid) and if you’re particular about Ebonics and all, you’d notice that the Yoruba singer struggles with his pronunciations from time to time. But then again Superstar is a Nigerian pop album, right? Not a secondary school English textbook, so let’s move on.
Wizkid’s musical relationship with Banky W hasn’t yielded any major hit collaboration just yet but master and protégé link up twice on this project; there’s the laughable attempt at making an anthem on ‘EME Boyz’ and then there’s the Caribbean-influenced ‘Slow Whine’. Banky is arguably Nigeria’s most cultured R&B singer at the moment but he allows young Wizkid some legroom to craft his own blend of rhythmic dancehall-influenced music and the singer excels. At either rate, Wizzy’s voice lacks range and his lyrics lack the depth to retain any interest over mellow beats. The singer sounds more at home on the raucous drums of ‘Pakuromo’ and certified party starters like ‘Scatter the Floor’ and the Wande Coal-assisted ‘For Me’. The singer closes out the album with another club banger ‘Wiz Party’, but Superstar was never going to be a Wizkid album if some of his closest friends – D’Prince, Skales and producer Samklef didn’t join the party.
D’Prince delivers a very disappointing verse with nursery rhymes lines like ‘who sat and watched my infant head when sleeping on my cradle bed/when tears and sickness made me cry…’ on the lively ‘Wad up’, Skales weighs in with a decent verse on ‘EME Boyz’ and Samkef handled the lion’s share of the production on the entire project.
On Superstar, Wizkid compressed albums 2 and 3 of his career into one CD. A transition from teen heartthrob to a genuine contender in the space of 17 songs is no mean feat. It will be interesting to see which direction the young singer’s career takes from here but it’s pretty clear to see that Superstar could be the beginning of something very special in Nigerian music.
ALBUM RATING – 3/5
16 comments
3/5? I disagree. Taking into consideration his genre of music, I give him a 4/5 if not 4.5/5
“D’Prince delivers a very disappointing verse with nursery rhymes lines like ‘who sat and watched my infant head when sleeping on my cradle bed/when tears and sickness made me cry…’ on the lively ‘Wad up’”
hahahahahah!
Yes…i agree with that 3/5 and he should please watch his lyrics…hooks like ‘oya ask your mum’ is a stain on his plain career. He should try and follow the steps of Banky W. All in all, it’s a good album. Keep it up Wizzy and thumbs up to u guyz @ NET!
album fAll less of expectation
mixin nd materin was too bad
no good nd enough features
the album is fair
Done laughing at that comment on D’prince.,,,damn that was cold yo but funny….evil funny.
Moving on, Superstar is a pretty decent album that exceeded my expectations. There may be a few skip factors, that’s expected, it’s the first album and there wasn’t a consistent theme to the songs but even the few songs I’m tempted to skip, I realize subconsciously, I’m humming to then so it’s an album that fully grows on you. With the wide range of songs on it, everyone seems to have a favorite which differs based on individual choices and this reflects the varying songs. I like Fuji music, so it’s not surprising that Pakurumo is my fave but my friend who is obsessed with Nigerian wedding songs can’t stop playing I love my baby. Does he need to step up his lyrical content? yea, but then again, which hip hop/whatever genre these commercial artists fall into has contents. We are obsessed with energetic beats and that’s what matters. Samklef did a great job, Skales is like an underdog, some of his lines are actually good, the slow whine track is one of my faces, and true, the album wouldn’t have been this good if other artistes didn’t feature. All in all, for an album from a 20yr old making such waves, I say this is good and there’s still room for improvement. Waiting to see what direction he takes it. Fuji is always a viable option. I rate the album a 4/5
the album was fair
2/5
2/5? Have u gone GaGas’? You said its fair and then you go ahead and rate him 2. That’s like the weirdest thing ever. Just try to listen to the album again, and thereafter, repeat this quote of yours’ and you’re no longer allowed here. I on the other hand rate the album 4 and half over 5. Wizkid is really a wizard! Pakurumo AND Love My baby are my best tracks. No Lele, Scatter the Floor, Say My Name, Wad Up, Oluwa Loni, and the lot. The only falling of hand is the EME Soldiers. They should learn from the Chocboiz and make it tight. But Wizkid, you’re among my best for now.
wizzy keep it up.u can do beta
the autotune was deafening..
work on d lyrics..all d best
wizkid is doing what he knows best, what he says are just lyrics he’s not referring it to anybody
Well ummm…i do think he‘s okkkk bt he ain‘t good enough!
Yeah,the album super star is a big hit all over the country,in one word l will rate him 4/5
4/5, he tried.
It bcus i dnt have websid, dat is y i leav my num. Wizkid u told me u wonna hangout with me. dat same Akwa Ibom guy. I luv u wiskid, pls call dat num k. I nd u 2 swarga my ginger, it’s just dat I can sing an even rap but i dnt see a backup, pls can u help me. i want 2 b yur guy, ur personal person. so greet banky w 4 me. I need u people thanks, bye..
Hello Wizkid baby,u are d oldest and most natural of all fine artistsa like language, u are a remakable gift dat set listener apart form beast. U stirs d emotions, ur music delight in my ears and linger in my mind, every 1 having head it could remember it. D superscription indicate d wide spead of luv 4 u. I want u 2b my guy, tanks 4 dat trak, halla ur boy. my num 07037179667.
wadup guy, hw is ur dy, but send me ur num pls am anxious 2 say xup 2 u. u b 1 an my only guy. i luv ur music wiskid baby. pls reply me with dis num O7O37179667. pls tell wiskid 4 me. tanks
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