Olamide Carpe diem Album review
Nigerian rapper/singer Olamide, full name Olamide Adedeji, is back with his second album for 2020; the first being 999 and his 11th studio album, Carpe diem since 2011, both have been released with the help of EMPIRE distribution, a joint venture deal he announced early this year via his twitter. Being relevant in the music industry for as long as Olamide has shown, has plenty to do with knowing how to reach your listeners both new and old. As an artist whose music has largely been based in Nigeria, even smaller – Lagos, ‘energy’ is one thing that is mostly peculiar and evident in Olamide’s projects. Both 2020 projects have shown Olamide loose that ‘energy’ to the way his music is engineered. Working with producers and music executives outside Nigeria has allowed Olaminde and his crew to give more attention to not just his lyrics but his audio engineering.
Olamide uses his latest 12 track album, Carpe diem, to extend his reach across the borders of Nigeria with the help of his prodigy, Fireboy DML and other notable features. The album whose tracks were mostly produced by P.Prime offers a ‘vibeful’ 38 minutes; which gives the album that important replay value in todays’ streaming atmosphere. If the album is to be very successful it would be largely as a result of his features, producers and his willingness to reach a larger gathering of fans around the world. If not on first listen or placed in relation to his other projects, this album may not become viral.
THE THEME
Carpe diem is a Latin phrase usually translated as “seize the day”, which serves as a reminder to enjoy every moment as the days come by. A more contemporary understanding would be ‘YOLO’, meaning You Only Live Once, hence, seize the day.
‘Another level’ which starts off the track list of Carpe diem, is a reminder of the force Olamide has been in the Nigeria music industry, having released his last ten studio projects under his own record label, YBNL nation. Olamide restates in English and the Nigerian Pidgin English “been a CEO since twenty-two, how dem wan contest”?
‘Green Light’ and ‘Eru’ which were the pre-released tracks on the album, both offered afrobeat sounds with a lot of melody to go with, this shows how far Olamide is willing to explore new sounds. ‘Green Light’ offers a colorful video as Olamide ask for the ladies’ green light for them to hit things off.
‘Triumphant’ epitomizes the struggle for Olamide with the help of a powerful fuji-infused melodic hook from Bella Shmurda as Olamide reveals many vulnerable moments in his life, he tells us that his narrative is ‘to change the narrative for the ghetto youths’.
‘At your service’ is more of a laid-back track which most Nigerians would not be interested in but is worth listening and vibing to. Young Jon brings energy back into the mix with ‘Do Better’ as Olamide is allowed to roam in the sound. The afro-house infused track featuring Bad Boy Timz, ‘Loading’ offers another view to Carpe diem.
Olamide concludes with ‘Plenty’ featuring his prodigy Fireboy DML in a track they tell us there is plenty of everything for them at this point in their lives. Whether it is the features or the joint venture with Empire distribution or the new sounds deployed, one thing is certain Carpe diem paints a colourful Olamide picture and has set the bar even higher.
Olamide Carpe diem Album review
