Joeboy Somewhere between Beauty and Magic Album Review
Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa also known as Joeboy have been blazing the airwaves since he broke into the music scene in 2019. Just like his breakout mate in the person of Fireboy, he has released his first major project. Although is stayed late, he tried his best to create a real nice body of work. On a first listen to the tracks that make up this body of work, one could claim that he did not release a project that has has at least five hit tracks. Although that could be attributed to the fact that he already released the songs as singles, the other factor can also be the lack of real variety in message.
This album can be said to have been created with two basic genre in mind. He made some RnB songs while fusing it with some Alternate Afropop sound. Joeboy is a musician who got his popularity with the alternate sound which is a mixture of ponpon beat and Afrobeats shekere. In the creation of this album Joeboy made sure that at least 50percent of the songs on the album are alternate sound. Thereby not deviating from the sound that announced him.
Another really bold but nice move to becoming a really dope international height is his reservation not to feature any star. What this action does is that: it keeps the spotlight on him. In that way any of his song that becomes a hit song will not be dependent on the featured star but his creativity and hard work. This is same carrier plan that Kizz Daniel used before he broke that norm with his “no bad songs album”. In as much as it is nice plan, it may back fire if the songs on this album does not become a hit.
POSSIBLE HITS AND FLOPS
Apart from Lonely which has already been released as a single. The first song that prompts one to put on repeat is “Door”. Another song that could become a hit is “Focus” because of the groove and bump that the song has as he vocals his lyrics. One can hardly say there a flop song on this album but there are a lot of song that are average but could become hit songs depending on how much Empawa records is ready to invest on the songs.
THE PRODCTION
This album is utilizes different recent pop sound of Nigerian music. Working with a crew of ten music producers, Joeboy creates sounds that cut through Afrobeats and Afropop subgenre. Employing the Service of Tempoe, MOG, Killertunes, Dera, Type A, and a host of others, Joeboy created a Nigerian Alternate Album.
For example in “Door” which was produced by Tempoe, they made a sound that blends Afro-fusion and Alternate sound. What Tempoe did was use alternate percussion to drive Afro-fusion baseline and lead strings. And created a sweet blend alternate sound.
Another song worthy of production mention is “Focus”. Working with MOG, Joeboy created a sound mid tempo modern Afrobeats. This beat which is void of the usual shekere stands out with the detuned sequence sound which they played as the rhythmic key of the songs creating a really nice bump. Also the looping of some trap beats elements into the sound is really dope to listen to.
THE THEME
The album is a blend of different love songs. In the song “Focus”, Joeboy sings about loosing focus because of the distraction a lady he just met have been bringing his way. He begs her to accept his love offer. Although he tweaks most of the love stories in the different songs, most of the songs revolve around winning or enjoying a ladies love.
Joeboy Somewhere between Beauty and Magic Album Review
