M.I’s 'The Chairman' is a product of technical and creative perfection

By Dayo Showemimo

Album – The Chairman

Artiste: M.I (Jude Abaga)

Record Label: Chocolate City

Year: 2014

When it takes you 4 years to prepare for an album, fans and critics expect nothing short of perfection and, if possible, magic from you. The big question on the lips of everyone in the Nigerian music industry now is ‘Did M.I deliver on the The Chairman?

Objectively, the short Black Boy from Jos did deliver. The 33-year old rapper got signed onto his current record label, ‘Chocolate City’ in 2008 as an unknown rapper. Today, M.I has risen to the position of Vice President at Chocolate City and also runs his own record label, Loopy Music on the side where he caters for his own acts such as Ruby Gyang, Loose Kaynon and female Dj Lambo.

His long-awaited 3rd studio album titled The Chairman was released on October 30 and the industry is buzzing and everyone is talking about his new body of works.

The Chairman Album

The album is a 17-track album and featuring classic collaborations of top music acts like 2face, Sound Sultan, Oritshefemi, Wizkid and others. The album also features international acts like Sarkodie and Beenie Man.  M.I made a smart marketing move to ensure the album sells by making it available for pre order before the scheduled day of release and sold over 30,000 copies before the album was officially released on October 30, 2014.

M.I’s debut album ‘Talk About it’ was released in 2008, followed by ‘M.I2’ IN 2010. He’s also dropped two mixtapes, ‘Illegal Music’ Volume 1 and 2.

M.I understands the Market

By all standards, M.I ranks among the best rappers ever to emerge from the continent of Africa. He’s known for his deep punch lines, sweet flow and very intelligent themes. In this new album, M.I passes his message across in the simplest way possible and yet he took nothing away from the quality and class he’s known for. Even the meanest critic would appreciate his effort and any lover of music would surely be able to sing along and understand every line of his rap. He understands that local is the new cool, and he made sure each song has a sweet and easy to sing along chorus.

28 Artistes and 8 Producers

I’m not sure what M.I tried to prove with this, because apart from the first track which is an intro, all other tracks have artistes featured on them. M.I didn’t singlehandedly record any track on his own. Having been away for 4 years, M.I might be trying to tap into the fan base of other acts, it could be that he’s scared to do it alone or it could be a deliberate strategy, only time would tell how it pans out. The roll call of artistes on the album include, Chigurl, Koker, Wizkid, Phyno, Runtown, Stormrex, Moti Cakes, Reminisce, Nosa, Milli, Oritshefemi, Frank Edwards, Nanya, Tuface, Sound Sultan, Morell, Loose Kaynon, Debbie, Emmy Ace, Beenie Man, Seyi Shay, Ice Prince, Sarkodie, Dj Lambo, Patoranking, Olamide and I.J.

For producers who worked on the album, there are M.I, L37, Reinhard, Sarz, G-Plus, Pheelz, Sammy Gyang and Vstix.

The Technical Detail you won’t notice

An album from M.I wouldn’t be complete without a creative twist to it, and this time he embed a little technical detail that most people won’t notice. The Chairman album contains 17 tracks, the arrangement is in a ‘U’ form with the first 8 tracks and last 8 tracks placed completely opposite each other. In other words, track o1 is titled ‘The beginning’ while its opposite track is titled ‘The end’, track two is titled ‘Monkey’ while its opposite track is titled ‘Human being’ and so on while the 9th track titled ‘Middle’ featuring Olamide and I.J is the track in the middle that stands on its own and separates the first 8 tracks from the last 8 tracks.

Potential hit songs

The Chairman album is a collection of 17 previously unheard songs, all the songs are new, M.I didn’t release any song to promote the album, so it means his fans and the street would decide for themselves which song(s) would be a hit. Make no mistake, all the songs on the album are classics, but after a proper listening with the new sound and what the street loves in mind, the following songs stand out and might be the next hit tunes we’ll be bumping and dancing to. The second track, ‘Monkey’ is the kind of song that would instantly make you smile smile and sing along as Chigurl delivers a sweet chorus that connects to the street and long distance travellers while M.I simplified his rap verses with lyrics and words that would surely resonate with everyone. Track 13, ‘Wheel barrow’ featuring Emmy Ace and Beenie Man, is a fantastic song with a Reggae feel that has all the ingredients to be a monster hit. On the third track, titled ‘Rich’, fast rising singer, ‘Koker’ delivers a spectacular hook that connects with the street, finally, the combination of Phyno and Runtown on the fifth track titled ‘Bullion Van’ results in a sweet jam that’s destined to rock the clubs in the coming weeks.

Jesse Jagz is missing

Quite a number of major acts are missing on the album, already Banky W has revealed his sadness for not being on the album. M.I’s kid brother, Jesse Jagz is also conspicuously missing on the album. Although he was at the album listening party and performed with M.I on stage but his absence in the album despite the number of features on the album begs a question. Jesse Jagz parted ways with Chocolate City in June 2013

Conclusion

In one word, M.I’s The Chairman album is ‘LEGENDARY’.

RATING: 4/5