When Adekunle Gold burst into the scene in 2016, it felt like a new dawn for ”˜Alternative Music` in the Nigerian music space. He struck gold by finding a way to commercialize alternative music which at the time had little or no traction in our music scene.
The success of his debut single landed him a nomination for the ”˜Best Alternative Single` of the year at the 2015 Headies, including debuting at No. 7 on the world billboard albums chart for the 2nd week of August, 2016 with his debut album, Gold and a win in the alternative singles and albums category at the 2016 Headies for the performance of his debut album.
With alternative music, Adekunle launched himself as a music powerhouse in Africa, touring the continent as more music fans began to warm up to the beauty of his artistry.
However, four projects later Adekunle Gold has shown that his ingenuity with alternative music is not all there is to him as an artist. He is equally able to make Afropop songs that will compete with the best pop stars out of Africa.
Adekunle Gold`s critically acclaimed 2020 album, Afro Pop Vol 1 was his first hint at reinvention. Although he`d dropped a slew of tracks that already got tongues wagging, the only song that really stood out and laid the foundation for his fresh afropop leanings was an intro that features Nailah Blackman, AG Baby. A staunch declaration of a niche switch which was widely accepted by both his core audience and random music fans alike. AfroPop Vol. 1 eventually caught fire after the success of AG Baby, and the rest they say is history.
Aside from his musical reinvention, in the past two years Gold has successfully initiated a full-scale branding/image revamp which has since seen him abandoning his adìre standards, and a contemporary world view for a more commercial, beard strutting, dreaded young African alpha male with just about the right amount of biceps in all the right places. Adekunle Gold now shows up in the craziest streetwear that will leave you even more impressed than you were with the adìre statements.
With the amount of success that he`s had across the different spheres of his life, family and career, you cannot help but wonder how this ambitious Afropop Star hacked the music business audience in this part of the world.
TRACK BY TRACK REVIEW OF CATCH ME IF YOU CAN ALBUM.
BORN AGAIN
The first track and Intro on Catch Me If You Can is an ode to life, an outstanding feature with Fatoumata Diawara. A reassuring sign that even though Mr Gold may be switching sounds, he`s still very conscious of his African roots.
The song begins with a heart striking chant in Bambara, the national language of Mali by Fatoumata Diawara, which lingers throughout the rest of the track
“N’kanu taara yòròjanna
Ale ma sòn seginma
N’jarabi taara yòròjanna
Ale ma sòn seginma”
He delves right into the subject of his reinvention from the get go, implying that clicking thirty opened his eyes to reality, and helped force his decisions eventually leading into freedom and a beautiful streak of success.
Fatoumata`s unique Malian chant resonates underground throughout the song, giving it all the contemporary sound it needs to stay rooted in his African origin even while charting new ranges and vocal boundaries with his unbridled talent.
WIN
The second song on the album Win is a classic lecture in self awareness and reassurance. A sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to his journey in one way or the other over a slowed down AfroFusion splattered with a perfect blend of drums that will keep nodding till the end of the song.
These people include his mother, his friends, fans and himself for not giving up on his dreams. Appreciation has always been at the core of his musicianship and it`s beautiful to see that despite the heavy reinvention, he`s still got his foundations solidly backing his artistry as strongly as the first time he dropped a cover of One Direction`s hit song.
Adekunle Gold relishes the pressure that comes with being a winner as much as he does all the goodies. His determination to remain true to himself and his craft contributes to the rawness of this project.
MASE MI
The third track on the album, Mase Mà is a stern rebuke to the Yoruba god of mischief, Èsù.
The king of mischief who`s known for tricking unsuspecting victims into making devastating life decisions. He wades off the mischief maker in a chorus that feels torn between a ballad and a eulogy.
He stands tall on this track with a goodwill message, preaching love and God as his secret ingredient.
ONE WOMAN
On a first listen, One Woman gives you the kind of melodious vibes Tekno dropped with ”˜Pana` some years back.
On a closer listen however, you`ll realize this is to accommodate Ty Dollar $ign`s seamless verse. The simplicity of the song and lyrics signals to you that both Adekunle Gold and his team have done their homework concerning market disparity and sound gap.
MERCY
Mercy is undoubtedly one of the best songs on the project. A masterfully adapted sample of Baba Fryo”˜s Denge Pose, a hit track from the late 90s.
Gold flows effortlessly on the beat, taking it to a whole new level while his wife lays some badass icing to the cake with her soul-piercing vocals.
Mercy became an instant hit when it dropped. It`s not surprising to see it do massive numbers since it was released, a collaboration the 79th element energy and Simi`s combo of vocal arsenal and mixing and mastering genius has given us some very explosive hit songs in the past.
MORE THAN ENOUGH
More than enough may be a love song, but it seems like the weakest link in the album. Gold`s performance on More than Enough was quite lackluster and lazy.
It should have been left out of the album. A definite buzz killer that should not prelude a classic record like sinner.
SINNER
The standout track on the project is sinner, a feature with Lucky Daye which was released in 2021.
Sinner stands out in every sense of the word, and is one of the songs that fuelled the acceptance of Adekunle Gold`s foray into AfroPop.
From the sickest production, to the top notch lyrics accompanied by sensual ad-libs, it`s not surprising that Sinner was one of the most listened to songs of 2021.
FYE
Hearing Adekunle Gold sing about booty bouncing may still feel a little awkward to the ear, but his ability to hold his own on something raunchy like this with a dancehall heavyweight like Stefflon Don is proof of AG Baby`s commitment to reinventing his artistry.
SLEEP
Sleep, on the other hand, is the usual Adekunle Gold with just a little bit of Afro Pop sprinkled all over.
He serenades his woman to sleep with sweet lyrics, backed by his sensual, nightingale vocals.
All is just perfect with the world, as long as she remains within the slumber created by his masterfully deployed vocals.
HIGH
High was dropped in late 2021, in anticipation of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. A perfectly executed Amapiano collaboration with Davido who`d already scored a few Amapiano monsters previously.
High was an instant hit on both the charts and the street and may just single handedly be responsible for up to sixty percent of all the hype behind the album. Gold has been dropping subtle hints of his near-perfect reinvention, but High definitely sealed the deal.
Watching our adìre model tear up that green screen alongside the barely clothed vixens? Now that was definitely a changeover switch for me. We`re used to Davido making a clean, raunchy appearance with the ladies every now and then, but AG Baby hid his ”˜bad boy Steeze` in a closet for years and the public never caught a whim of it, now that`s a smooth closer.
The perfect switch from the highly groomed royal prince to bad boy AG Baby for the girls. (FYI, the ”˜gyals them` team is led by Simi & Deja Kosoko).
DIOR DIOR DIOR
This collaboration with Foushee is really just another record that makes the album unnecessary longer. It`s a lazy, mid track that feels like both artists knew it wasn’t really going anywhere.
Another one purely for the numbers.
IT IS WHAT IT IS
This is another single that was dropped in June 2021 after the successful run of AfroPop Vol 1.
One of his first steps towards his artistic freedom and reinvention.
One of the most beautiful things about AG Baby`s artistry is how he`s taken us through his entire branding process right from the beginning.
SELAH
AG Baby is undoubtedly at the top of his pen game in this period of his career. SELAH is a classic record with inescapable lyrics, top notch storytelling that draws you in from the beginning.
We`ve all felt like protecting our hearts at some point of our lives, but AG Baby decides to rub salt on this emotional injury by turning it into a song. A lifetime reminder.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Catch Me If You Can is a satisfactory ending to a decent album. It`s unarguable that AG Baby is a miracle, his career has shown us as much so far.
He`s been one of the most original artists out of Africa since he broke into the scene and he`s held up the standard ever since.
His artistry has never been tainted by post-fame value depreciation, rather he`s grown over the years both as a singer, songwriter and a businessman.
Rating: 6.5/10
Comment: Congratulations to AG Baby on a really great album and a fully executed, seamless reinvention. I look forward to hearing him in other Afrobeats sub-genres, especially Street-Hop.
Written by AfrobeatsMerije.
Bisi-Taiwo Chukwumerije is a blood-bound Nigerian writer & Music Executive.
Tweet your favourite, random, mind-boggling songs, EPs, LPs, Albums, & music projects to him; @AfrobeatsMerije.
