There are some things wrong with this new album. But before I start dissecting it piece by piece, it is important to note that this album might be the worst of 2Baba but it is miles away from the albums made by recent Nigerian pop stars. It is has better content lyrically than albums dished out by Mayorkun, Peruzzi and most artist who released albums in 2019/2020 so far. Although the beats and the total mastering and mixing was not same standard with the sounds made by those artist. It has good lyrical strength. 2Baba has always had a tool that has been working for him over the past twenty years. That tool is the tool of making songs that get to become hits with time. Believe you me, when you listen to the album titled Warriors for the first time; all you will hear is crap. But give the song one month like I have given it and you tend to find the real sound and music in it.
No song is bad on Warriors Album because of the content of the songs. In fact the major thing that is bad about this album is the title. The title raises ideas of activism in the mind of a proposed listener. But the shock of the album is that there was no song like “Holy Holy”. In fact the closest song to an activism song is “Important” which has already been released as a single. This made the album to lack any form of good reception. People were thinking of songs closely related to “Holy Holy” but got songs that was more related to “African Queen”. Another fail of this album, is the lack of uniqueness in sound. Although 2Baba kept his lyrics unique, the beat was not unique. His beats has too many resemblance with what is trendy, which did not sit well with most of his day one fans. Everyone thought 2Baba was going to produce songs that had his flair but he allowed ponpon beats and Afrobeats to dominate the track list. This made many people listening to this album feel other Nigerian artist in it. The vibe was the same to most of the pop star of this era and many did not expect that from 2Baba. In summary the truth is that 2baba gave a wrong title to an album which is themed around Love, Life and Enjoyment.
THE THEME
Warriors Album as highlighted in the last part of the first paragraph is a song themed on three major topics. The first and most prominent topic is his love themed songs. The song “Ginger” is a song that features Nigerian’s biggest female pop star Tiwa Savage. They sing about a cheating male lover who has refused to take responsibility and stay glued to one lady. 2Baba who takes the role of the male lover begs his lady to please take him back because he will hold her down. In response, Tiwa claims that she knows he loves her but he has been playing games with her. Teaming with another pop star, Olamide, 2Baba sings about the deep thoughts in the heart of a lady. They sing about a lady who have been sitting on the fence in accepting a relationship/love proposal. In 2Baba’s words, he claims to be scarred of the unspoken words of this set lady. “Kitty Kat” is an erotic song which is good for making love. Unlike most love making songs that people are conversant to, 2Baba make an Afrobeats love making song. He uses the song to invite a lady for a night of fun in his room telling her that he loves to play with her “Kitty Kat”. My personal best record of this album is “Love me, Love me”. This is a song that talks about a ladies energy and vibe. 2Baba uses this song to tell a lady to love him. He acknowledges that having a lady of her standard is fire and work. But agrees to take these flaws and headache all because of love. “Opo” is a song that features Wizkid and they sing about having enough money to spend on their lady. Another song that is a quite is a mature love song is the song that features Syemca titled “Target You”. The song talks about a lady who 2Baba is trying to date. He claims he has been looking for that particular lady who will stop him from being a faithful pervert but a loyal lover. 2Baba tell the lady that she is different from other ladies and that is why he has been targeting her.
In switch of theme, 2Baba and Burna Boy created a song that does not talks of love. They sing about enjoying life even in the darkest eras of life. They sing about grooving and feeling high anytime any day provided one has life. In another song titled “If no be you”, 2Baba uses the song to thank God in heaven and his fans who have always been by his side from day one.
In summary, in an project, Warriors Album, 2Baba made nine songs that are love related. This is a clear example of an album that lost its identity from its title.
THE PRODUCTION
Unlike previous albums made by 2baba that was always dominated by a sole producers like Odogu and OJB. This album was made by a cluster of some Nigerians production heavy weights. On top of that list is Pheelz who made “I dey hear everything”. Generally, the Bump of the beats in this album was too low. Ponpon beat and Afrobeats in recent times are made with a lot of bump to allow for good dance. “Opo” is one song that has good bump but it lacked good influence from 2Baba. The song sounded more of Wizkid than 2Baba hence it could not be sold as the Warrior album flag song. “We must Groove” is a song that had the best quality in this album, but the dance quality was low because it belongs to “Holy Holy” category of songs. These flaws affects the appreciation of this album because it lack the influences of 2Baba sound.
POSSIBLE HIT OR FLOP
The songs in this album can be tagged flops when one compares the airplays they have to songs made by 2Baba in past years. 2Baba should never change his style of music. He should listen to his vibes back in the days and produce his high RnB and Reggae influenced sound than making this era’s ponpon and Afrobeats influenced Afropop sounds.
