By Chiagoziem Onyekwena
Artiste – Nosa
Album – Open Doors
Producers – BigFoot, Micworx, Eddie lsaac, Nosa
Guest Apperances – M.I
Record Label – Chocolate City
Duration – 62 minutes
All the success it has achieved with more worldly music may make you forget this but as a record label, Chocolate City’s first taste of success was in contemporary gospel music. Jeremiah Gyang’s debut album Na Ba Ka had as much impact on secular radio as it did on the gospel music circuit proving that, if done properly, contemporary gospel music could cross over to the mainstream. Eight years after that seminal album, and with the help of new signee Nosa, Chocolate City tries once more to kill the same pair of birds with the same type of stone.
In delivering the crossover smash Always Pray for You; if Nosa hasn’t brought down the bird of commercial success, he’s certainly come close. The delicately produced record compliments Nosa’s equally delicate voice to the point where you might actually miss the message behind the music. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact if there’s one criticism that gospel artistes share it’s that they sacrifice style too often for substance. On Open Doors, Nosa proves that the two need not be mutually exclusive – Always on my mind is a supremely well-crafted R&B tune which on first listen sounds like Nosa is reassuring a loved one that out of sight isn’t out of mind. However, the beauty of records such as these is that Nosa’s penmanship leaves sufficient leeway for listeners to draw whatever conclusions they want about who exactly he’s singing about. That way, you do not have to believe in Nosa’s God to listen to Nosa’s music.
However, that could be a tactic too, give them what they want to hear and when they’ve warmed up to you, then give them what they need to hear. And what they need to hear is the moving Already done which thanks God in advance for prayers answered. What they need to hear is the uplifting A Star which reminds us that even if all you know how to do today is to sweep floors, don’t despair; you could own a company which sweeps the streets tomorrow. What they absolutely need to hear is the cleverness with which Nosa intertwines Bible characters in pidgin on No Worry and uses their struggles to inspire. However, what they do not need to hear is God Bless Nigeria, a song which forces Nosa out of his vocal comfort zone into areas where his thin voice is easily found out. Then there’s the stereotypical gospel sing-along Higher which seems to ramble on and on without much direction.
I just had an epiphany – in a lineup of five random people, most Nigerians would struggle to point out their Vice President. Now, I won’t say Namadi Sambo’s anonymity means he’s been an ineffective VP, even though I know some people who wouldn’t hesitate to say so. What I will say though is that he is one who hasn’t been able to create an identity for himself. Nosa’s debut project has a similar problem, for while Open Doors is solid, it lacks an identity which sets it apart from other albums in the wider genre of R&B. With the exception of the album’s title track, so little of Nosa bleeds into the music to the point where, while you might genuinely appreciate his sound, you could struggle to tell a Nosa song from any other one on mainstream radio.
ALBUM RATING – 3.5/5
