Cheque Call me Baby Review: Breaking the new norm
Nigerian music have gone through some really unique metamorphosis. Before it became the center of Afrobeats music, Nigerians used to gravitate to western RnB and Hiphop music. This helped Nigerians understand their sound and merge it with their local Nigerian instruments and vibe to create contemporary Afrobeats, Alternate sound and ponpon beat which are all Afropop sounds.
With every new creation comes a problem; and in the case of Nigerian music, it became the inability of western sounds like Hiphop rap and RnB to thrive in the Nigerian music mainstream. This has made many Nigerian Rappers to create new rap styles like the on done by Zlatan Ibele which is a fusion of Rap and Afropop fuji sound. The reason for the above switch is because if you do not make these new type of music, you may not sell any record.
But with Cheque, he is proving to be the artist who breaks the new norm. When he released Zoom, I was like it was going to be one of a kind. But he went on to release another hit song with FireBoy DML and that one was a success. Now listening to “Call Me Baby”, I could say he has broken the norm by thriving in a market that appeals more to Afropop music. The unique thing about his music is that his sound is vibbed to in the clubs around Nigeria even though he is a core hiphop/RnB musician. I really love his bravery and sound and I hope he does not water down like his Penthauze boss: Phyno.
THE MESSAGE
The song is a lyrical picture of a man asking a lady to get down on him. From plot of the song, Cheque sings from the perspective of a guy who meets a girl in a public place and tells her that he want to be her lover. In the chorus he craves her indulgence to be his lover and call her baby. He tells her that he will elevate her to the boss status making her a commander based on her new status as his lady.
The first verse has Cheque paint a picture of how he was able to set himself up to go and ask this lady out. Claiming that he had to be a little bit tipsy with henessy, he explains that he pulled over her side in his car which was stacked full with cash. With the confidence he has generated with alchohol and money, he tells his soon to be lady to allow him be her man. According to him, he knows that he has competition from other guys but claims that he is the best for the job of being there for her.
The last verse has him asking her for her opiion as regards his advances. He pleads with her to love him and not do him Johnny. Johnny here connotes the character of a player as depicted by Yemi Alade in her song titled Johnny.
THE BEAT
The song is a simple RnB beat song with some very small element of trap to it. What catches my attention is the rhythmic piano which serves as the base rhythm of the song. With just three keys per bar, the sequencing sound easy and can be performed with just a piano play and a vocalist to vocal. Swapsbeats is also to be applauded for the mixing and mastering. Songs like this are very transition and effects sensitive; from the purity of the sound, one can see that Swaps did some very detailed work on the song. Cheque and his team did a great job in creating one of the purest and recent RnB songs of 2021.
Cheque Call me Baby Review: Breaking the new norm
