Olamide is one of the most negatively criticized artist on cillacritic.com. We blame him for the fall of Nigerian Rap game. He was one of forces that took Nigerian Rap music to the Apex and was also the force that brought it to its knees. The YBNL boss created his record label as a Rap music group and overnight became a singing label-releasing stars like Adekule Gold and Fireboy DML to the world. But we still blamed him the the flop of Nigerian Rap. 999 album may have just changed our minds because he is showing that he holds the Keys to the Rap game in Nigeria.
Olamide created an Album that is a direct contrast of his recent albums. He created more of drive time meditating rap album. The songs in 999 album will make anybody think. Unlike his last couple of albums, he created an album that has a Character/theme. One can slide from one song on this track list to another without feeling like he/she has been freed from the musical hypnotization. Olamide is talented and that can not be disputed. He is Top 5 in Nigerian Music and that includes Fela and 2Baba.
Listening to “Billion Talk” which is the third song on the 999 album; I could tell that he has all the maturity in sound, lyrics and popularity to jump start the rap game in Nigeria. Using a vibe that could make one feel like he/she is vibing to Panda by The Designer. In terms of lyrics and message, he explains his break from Rap music. He claims he hard to go local because he was chasing the paper. He declares that he does not want to look old because of poverty and did this by creating a good tune. Although young Rappers like Blackbones have tried their best to make hits. Olamide proves to understand the dynamics and the musical body language of Nigerian music lovers. The 999 album is an album that Olamide shows the world that he just took a vacation from the Rap music game.
“Demons” is a mid tempo sound with a lot of RnB vibes in it. He introduced on thing that cillacritic.com have been clamoring for. We have always been of the opinion that it is not a most that a Rapper takes his chorus and Olamide listened. Working with Milly in Billion talk and Jackmillz on “Demons” brought that to life. He made a song that talks about the problems of life that he had been fighting since he had baby sense. The chorus was killed by Jackmillz and the message was delivered in some very low pitched steady vibes. Although he switched his rhymes from steady raps to a relative flow, Olamide kept the pitch and message simple to allow the chorus soak into the soul of the listener.
“Rich Famous” is a song that talks about the problems many Stars face. He talks about how people pressure people living a life that is not profitable. He talks about the paparazzi and media people who always critize stars and thereby misleading them. Using a mid tempo RnB influenced beat, Olamide talks about how stars blow away all the cash forgetting to save up for the future. Taclking the issues of poverty of artist after golden ages in the limelight, Olamide talks about stars who are pushed to live for the moment forgetting that there is life after the mic. He talks about drug abuse among stars and how they die poor because they spent all their saving satisfying fans and the media.
In summary, if you are a lover of good rap music or you are learning how to listen to Rap music; then 999 album is what you need to have. Olamide may have just Jump started Nigerian Rap music after turning it to a singers industry.
