Album review: Here is The Mob’s Take on ‘Wazup Guy’ by FALZ

by Obinna Agwu

falz

I have been a distant admirer of Falz’s brand of humour-laced, laid back rap for some time now. However, I needed to listen to his album to get a feel for what makes the man tick as an artiste. Well, here’s my impression of his debut, Wazup Guy.

Intro skit: This intro gets a thumbs up for good intention but falls short in execution. Too long, too predictable and not as funny and witty as I expected. It didn’t exactly pique my interest in the rest of the album, but it was bad enough to stop me either.

See me: The production and arrangement of this song are on the money!! However, Falz fails to bring enough lyrical fire power to the party, and the singing at the end sounded forced, he should have called for help or simply let it go. This song is still not close to wack.

Currency: Groovy!

Wazup guy: Studio Magiq!!!! Now that’s some dope Hip hop beat, and Falz comes through with some venom. This is the “I can rap” song of the album and I am sold. From production to delivery, this song is banging. What are these DJs doing not blasting this joint in the clubs?

Toyin tomato skit: hilarious!

Toyin tomato: seeing as this is a 19 track album (skits inclusive) I feel like this is one  the songs that shouldn’t have made the album’s final cut. This is that sound I am totally sick of. The beat of this song lacks imagination and does absolutely nothing for me. the toyin tomato skit still would have remained solid without this spoiler following. I don’t like!

O pari ft Olamide: Just there.

How far ft Sir Dauda: “How far” is a song that captures the pervasive socio-economic imbalance and injustice in the Nigerian society, asking, albeit rhetorically, how far with the many promises of Governments past. This is my best song off this project, by a mile. This song is as brilliant as it is audacious. I will definitely love to see a video for this song. Falz delivers this track with remarkable conviction. The lyrics were  properly thought out and the arrangement was top-notch. Big shout-out to Sir Dauda for lending his sonorous vocals to this epic record. Any radio dj worth their salt would jam this song regularly. I love!!

Senator: “Senator” appears to be a fitting sequel to “How far.” The song takes things a little further by giving, well deserved, kudos to the stars of the horror movie titled Nigeria; the Nigerian politician. What’s not to love about this cheeky line: “you calculate you no show working, You say na summary” lol! I love this song better with every listen. Hol up! why do I feel like this is a sub at the Tinubus in particular? Never mind. And to the producer’s credit, the accompanying music for this song is a beauty. Thumbs up Falz.

Right now ft Dipo: Two bottles of Origin for this talking drum guy shall we? Beautiful. Also, it was a pleasure to listen to oladipupo again, after such a long while. This Uber talented gentleman does absolute justice to the barrister’s love song. This song sucked me in from the very first key. The enchanting, contemporary African beat reminds me of Jesse Jag’s “sugar cane baby”. Falz promptly laced the track with his characteristic laid back flow and very intelligent lines. This is a beautiful song.

Jessica: “Jessica” didn’t particularly catch my fancy. I believe it could have been better written, and better done, in general.

High Class: Jam!!!!! Production of life!!! Mehn I need this magic. This song is no doubt a major reason this album rocks. Studio magic almost stole the show with the production but nah, Falz still held it down nicely. This gets me moving always. Great tune, anyday.

Hold something: Owambe song of the pack. just ok.

Marry me ft Poe & Yemi Alade: I love EVERYTHING about this song, from the topic to the contributions by the featured acts. This is the most intelligent song on this album. Poe is fantastic, Yemi brought her A game, and Falz’s funny story telling made all the difference. This is a special tune.

123 ft oyinkansola: Fela would have loved this production. Nigeria’s very own Angelique Kidjoe, Miss Oyinkansola lends her uncommon vocals to this next-level afrobeat song. Falz is Falz. Not a bad one.

Oh God: I like the general feel of this song. The hook is particularly striking and easy on the head. Here Falz is talking about wifing his girl and life after that. Good song.

Wazup guy (remix) ft SDC & Phenom: hmmmm! This is a vicious remix  and I love it. Phenom is blossoming into a more dangerous rapper by the second and his venom on this remix is undeniable. shout-out to SDC. Hip hop is alive. This remix is a favourite of mine and the beat is still a gaddamn problem. Nice!

The advice: Unassumingly dope beat by Kidkonnect. Not a bad song at all.

Cool parry: cool story!

The Mob’s Take:

I think Wazup Guy is a very impressive debut for Falz. In this body of work I heard originality in style, choice of production and brand of lyricism. The features on this album are quite apt and refreshing, as opposed to the current industry trend of “big name” features for “big name” sake. I reserve special praise for Studio Magic and Spax, I expect greater things from those two. I’m also intrigued by the fairly wide range of topics Falz is able to take us through on this album. That’s laudable. With this album, Falz shows, not so subtly, that he is indeed an intelligent and imaginative musician.

However, I maintain that the album was unnecessarily long. My general rule for albums remains: 10 songs at least, 14 songs at most. I believe this enhances the replay potential of the work.

All in all, this album is worth every buck I put down to buy it and a whole lot more. Don’t take my word for it though, get your copy, now!

That’s WAZUP!

——————————–

Obinna Agwu tweets @d_angrymob

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail