Nigeria has made Billions of dollars from the music industry. An industry which has affected the international status and GDP of the nation could have not have become this huge without the inputs of veterans like Sound Sultan. For two decades the Sound Sultan have contributed his own quota to the growth of the industry by releasing songs. 8th Wonder which is his new project just added to the list of songs he has made to improve the industry.
Sometime in 2019, I strongly criticized Patoranking for his work on Wilmer. He mixed up different genres of music with different messages and like a bad alcohol mix it was not tasteful. His direction was distorted. Sound Sultan just made 8th Wondah a close relative of Wilmer. Just like Wilmer, most of the songs would have been great singles but mixing it up as an album was almost a total miss. This can be said to be almost a total miss because at least he did not do poetry. But apart from that he made an album of folk/country music, afrobeats, afropop, konto, RnB, Hiphop and some elements of Makosa. Sound Sultan was trying to confuse the listeners and he may have done that to people who have little patience. However there are some songs that will keep your ear alive.
THE THEME
Sound sultan switched from being a social Activist to a club Hype man in one album as seen in the following song. “In case” which he features Falz; they talk about bad leadership and bad followership. In the song titled “Jungle”, sound sultan talks about the social injustice in Nigeria and how even though the country is messed up-will not die. In “Oshumare”; Sultan sang about the diversity in Nigeria. Talking about the diversity as a relatively bad thing in Nigeria, he tells the world that the different colours of the spectrum is why the world is so beautiful.
In wierd love songs, Sound Sultan sang about love from the eyes of a guy neglected by his lover and a man who loves his nation. For example in “Area” which he features Johnny Drille, Sultan sang about his love for Nigeria while Johnny personified Nigeria as a lady. “Agaracha” is a song which I am particularly in love with. He sings of a hustling boss lady who travels the world making money; neglecting her love life. He however claims that his lady is an Agaracha which means a fearless and vibrant lady. But claims that with all her fearless and vibrant antics that she will always come back to her lover. “Superwoman” is a song that celebrates brown skinned African woman.
In a swing of message, Sultan sings about celebrating ones freedom in life in “Tonop”. Using Afrobeats vibes dominated with horn instrument, Sultan tells the world to enjoy life with a dance and good food.
THE PRODUCTION
The album cover art is just not what should be expected of Sound Sultan. It looks like what an amature graphic designer made. As regards the beat; Sultan, Wumpbeats, Ndu Mix, MasterCraft, Fresh and every other person who worked on this album did a relatively nice job. However the first two songs in the album (In case and something like this) where poorly mixed. The sound patterns were not properly harmonized and sounded like an unfinished job.
The selection of songs for this album was not a wise move. This album would have made two good EPs. For example, the RnB and Folk songs in this album would have made a good EP. And the Afropop and Afropop songs in this album would have made a good mix too. But what the executive producers of Naija ninjas did was to throw all the song into the market which might affect the appreciation of the the different songs. One person who really understands this rule in Nigerian music is Timaya. That can be seen when he released Chulo vibes.
POSSIBLE HITS AND FLOPS
The songs in this album are good songs but are not great songs. They will get good air play by Sound Sultan fans. But if they are going to become household hits, a serious and conscious effort has to be given to the promotion. “Agaracha” and “Tonop” can become hits while “Incase” will flop in the market. The production is just too substandard for the type of beats that the Nigerian musical circle are used to.
