Music over the years has always been a tool of communications of ones feeling. Music has been used to fight for human rights. It has been use to explain the emotions and state of a group of people. Music which was declared a weapon by the late Fela Kuti is used to pass the message of the masses. Giant of Africa is one other song which discusses the state of mind and actions of a Nigerian citizen. Nigeria is regarded as a Giant of Africa but can be called a sleeping Giant because of the high level of Negative attributes of the Nation. Burna Boy uses this album to talk about this Giant Nation and the mind set of an average Nigeria.
THE THEME
Fusing creativity and words spoken by an ordinary Nigerian citizens in the street; BurnaBoy was able to create a good Album. Mixing Afrobeats and Afropop with some elements of Reggae; Burna created songs with depth. On the surface, one could jam and dance to the beat because they are good party jams. But to who cares to listen, Burna takes his lyrics to another level. He just discusses the mindset of a Nigerian citizen in his quest to make hands meet.
In the song “African Giant” Burna tells the world the Nigeria has become very hot. He claims that Nigerian has become hot because of the troubles in the land. “Any Body” is a song that every Nigeria man or woman can relate with especially if the person has been on a low before. He sings about being a fan of people who never really appreciated his craft. He explains that he can’t respect anybody who never really gave him any respect when he was nobody. He declares that he does not have time for anybody because respect is reciprocal.
Burna Boy in the song “Collateral Damage” sings about the bad leadership Nigerians have endured. He states that Nigerians have been cowed by the wicked politicians who use the forces at their disposal. He explains that Nigerians have become afraid to fight for their right hence enduring evil. “Dangote” is song that most low income earners in Nigeria will relate to. It talks about being continuity in ones hustle because even the Richest Black Man (Aliko Dangote) is still hustling to make money. He sings about haters in the song titled “spiritual”. He calls their state of mind and action to be spiritual problem. He wonders why people will be hating on someone because they are making waves.
In summary he tried to use his song to talk about the mentality and state of mind of Nigerians and African around the world. He tries to explain the problem of Nigeria and how it got into some very high level of mediocrity.
THE PRODUCTION
An Album which features the likes of Damian Marley and Angelique Kidjo has to be well produced. Working with likes of Kel P, P2J, Benjamin Zill, Mr Kleb and seven other producers is a record for a Nigerian musician. Nigerian musician hardly use lots of producers because of the cost of production and production chemistry. BurnaBoy made sure all the sounds in his album where either ponpon sound or Afrobeat there by giving it this rich African Identity. P2J did a crazy job with “Any Body” with the mid tempo Afro Beat Party Jam. Being able to give dance rhythm to a song like this was just thinking out of the bus. Kel P also did an amazing job with Dangote and Spiritual. Spiritual is a pon pon sound which can get anybody dancing to the sound.
However the feature list was not lit. The presence of Future and Jorja was not a notable addition to the album. The songs are low quality and feature did little or nothing to increase its quality.
POSSIBLE HITS AND FLOPS
Most of the Hit songs have already been released as singles hence the number of new hits in this album are reduced. “Wetin Man go do” will become a street hit in Nigeria if promoted because of the chorus and the lyrics. It appeals more to an ordinary Nigeria suffering and hustle. “Spiritual” is also a possible hit because of the beat and progression of the beat. it is a decent party Jam. The song which features Damian Marley is also a good song because of the content and Caribbean dance hall vibe. The flop of this album is the song that features Future. However the power of heavy weight musicians carry might save it.
