When talking about the continent’s finest music producers, it would be impossible to leave Rexxie out of the conversation.
The 26-year-old DJ and record producer, real name Ezeh Chisom Faith, is the magician behind some of the biggest street anthems that have dominated Nigeria’s music charts in the past 36 months. Known for his famous tag “yo, Rexxie pon this one”, his production prowess has proved to be the Midas touch on tracks like Chinko Ekun’s “Able God”, Zlatan Ibile’s “Jogor” and “Zanku”, Naira Marley’s “Tesumole”, “Soapy” and “Mafo”; Bella Shmurda’s “Dangbana Orisa”, “KPK” (featuring Mohbad). He also worked on two tracks off Burna Boy’s Grammy-winning album Twice As Tall: “Bebo” and “Comma.”
Rexxie, a graduate of Computer Science from Tai Solarin University, was exposed to music from an early age: he played the piano at his father’s church at age 10. But it was not until he moved to Lagos in 2011 that he embraced music production fully. The early days were tough – his parents made a fuss about his choices, and he once sold his beats for N5,000 – but by 2017 he had begun to work with Chinko Ekun, and by 2018, he had developed a working relationship with two of Nigeria’s biggest hitmakers, Zlatan Ibile and Naira Marley.
A True Champion, released on June 28, 2021, is Rexxie’s first full-length album, and his second body of work: he had released a 7-track EP called Afro Streets in 2020. The new album, 17 tracks long, has a running time of 52 minutes, and features collaborations with some of the continent’s biggest pop stars. He produces all the tracks on the record, with mixing and mastering executed by Spyritmyx.
The LP gets off to a start with “Frenemies”, a track featuring Oxlade, which thrives on percussion and a short acoustic solo in the song’s final seconds to ruminate on unhealthy rivalries. Teni hands in a contagious hook while preaching the don’t-be-stupid gospel on “Boi Boi”, a track heavy on keyboards and reminiscent of Dr. Sid’s “Pop Something.” On “Mofoti 2.0”, Sarkodie renders two hard-hitting verses in his native Twi, and Naira Marley spices things up with a refrain that elevates the track from a decent filler to a potential club banger. Rexxie enlists the help of Asake on “Banger”, a song that relies on samples of South African house music; there is not much by way of lyricism, but it would fit perfectly into a Friday night playlist.
“Motherland”, which features vocal contributions from Kida Kudz, runs at a slower tempo, but the drums, flute and backing vocals make it blend nicely into a seductive slow dance routine. “KPK” (Ko Por Ke), which features Mohbad, needs little introduction: it was earlier released in December 2020, and is one of Nigeria’s biggest dance anthems in recent history. Bella Shmurda, one of the breakout artistes from last year, screams about night-time revelry and family demands on the upbeat “Back2Back”, and on “Birthday”, Moelogo and Buju sample 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” as they egg on a shy celebrant to let her hair down.
Bad Boy Timz shows his naughty side on the violin-assisted “Booty Bounce”, with U.K-born rapper Ms. Banks handing in a verse that manages to pack the punch. On “Hobby”, Peruzzi turns up the lust as he croons in the lines of “I no wan talk, I no wan wait/baby put that booty on my face.” Zlatan Ibile brings his ad-libs into play as he attempts to create another dance anthem on “Zanku 2.0”: the energy is palpable, and you can expect to hear this song at street parties in Mushin and Agege later in the year. Seyi Vibes sings about hustle and hope on the curiously-titled “40 BTC”, a track whose rhythm creates memories of pre-2017 Dammy Krane, and at the same time yearns for a verse from Qdot Alagbe. On the mid-tempo love ballad “Ginger Me”, Midas the Jagaban manages to find chemistry with Zinoleesky, although you just feel that you have heard these beats before.
Only Davido can be forgiven for coming up with lyrics like “Ejiro, na you I go f*** till we age o”, lyrics that find their way to “All”, a track whose opening seconds bear a semblance to Adekunle Gold’s “Ire”, and which has the DMW frontman play to his strengths as with “If” and “Flora My Flawa.” South African pop star Sho Madjozi aids Mohbad on a “KPK” (Remix) – an obvious effort to expand the demographic appeal of the street anthem – even though she sounds unintentionally hilarious as she pronounces “ji ma sun” and “ko por ke.” Lyta and EMO Grae sound like fish out of water as they thank their fans on “For You”, a track that struggles for pace. The album closes out with “Champion”, a rhythmic thanksgiving hymn of sorts that has Cameroonian pop star Blanche Bailly serve up vocals that could draw comparisons to those of Tiwa Savage.
The title choice is not the only puzzling thing about this project; it’s hard to figure out what’s actually going on, and it’s not until a fourth listen when any sort of rhythm is discovered. The record relies on the strength of Rexxie’s collaborators rather than any sort of artistic coherence, and in assessing the quality of the songs on display, this LP is at least three tracks too long: no one should feel like they’ve missed anything if they skip “Ginger Me”, “Hobby” and “For You”. There is still a lot to salvage though: “Mofoti 2.0” is a chart-topper in the making, it would be nice to see South Africans moving along to the “KPK” Remix, and “Motherland” is proof that Rexxie can be versatile with his production. Speaking of production, there’s hardly any sort of novelty, and that’s a real shame, because Rexxie is capable of doing a whole lot more
Ultimately, A True Champion is little more than an attempt to bring some of Nigeria’s finest pop artistes together on one project. The record lacks the cohesiveness of Basketmouth’s 2020 album Yabasi, and it is devoid of the verve that accompanied DJ Jimmy Jatt’s 2014 album The Industry Volume 1. Of course, there will be hits from this, but Rexxie could have been a lot more daring and experimental with his production here. The album is listenable, but it could have been ten minutes shorter, and it is hardly memorable.
Rating: 5.9/10.