Don jazzy is a known perfectionist. He once admitted
that he was very choosy when it came to music. He no longer needs to surprise us;
he simply needs to file updates reminding us that, after all, he is Don Jazzzy.
With so many works to testify to these facts, Don Jazzy has made his name as a
great producer, even his erstwhile partner, D’banj, recently called him the
best producer in Africa.
It is no longer news thet he has floated a new record
label, it is no longer news Tiwa Savage is now the first lady under Don Jazzy, it
is no longer news that a day later after the annoncement, a compilation album was released on the
internet. The news to me here is that just after a week, a Don jazzy produced
work is not being heard anywhere. Everybody lost interest.
One thing was clearly missing on this album, the
eccentricity and the electric presence of D’banj, which cannot be replaced by the
clinical but rather antiseptic vocal prowess of Tiwa Savage, even though she
has added a dimension to the vestige of the Mohits crew. The last compliation
album by Don Jazzy Curriculum Vitae was a massive success, with almost
every song a hit on its own. This is
what everybody expected of Solar Plexus.
Coming after a turbulent break up with D’banj we expect this album to be the
bang. Yes, it is supposed to be a statement, that Don Jazzy could do the magic
without D’banj. But that is a big doubt with this album.
The 13-track album (intro and outro included)
kicks off with a collaboration of all the Mavins. “I’m a Mavin” has Wande Coal
on the chorus, singing “they must be stupid”. Clear lyrics, good vocal- he puts
his trademark to work. Tiwa Savage also did a nice job on the songs; the low
point is the input by the duo of Dr Sid and D’Prince who pull the wave flat with
their performance.
Tiwa’s solo performance with “Oma Oga” is a good
song, Tiwa will always be Tiwa, but that track fell below expectation in
comparison with her previous song. Dr Sid’s “Yolo” clearly lacked content, so
he resorted to chanting Yolo several times. His shortcomings is glaring on all
his songs on the Album. But his second song on the album, “CPR” has good
lyrical content and a good pop feeling to it.
D’Prince
has always enjoyed Don Jazzy’s artistry, as in the case of “Give it to me”,
which is to date one of Don Jazzy’s best work. His first song on the album, “Banana”
did not escape that, but the lyric was boorish and grossly vapid. Was he
singing about love or money? However in
“Amarachi”, Don Jazzy uses optimizes D’Prince lack of vocal strenght with
groovy afro beat that is likely to make the track the album’s favourite. Wande Coal, hitherto stifled by the presence
of D’banj, did not fair very well on this album.
We all remember His first single of the CV album
“Ololufe” which has been described as the greatest love song ever written by a
Nigerian. We see a flash of that on his
second solo song on the album, “Forever” - a simple, melodic love song where
his natural belts out clear lyrics that suits the usual up-beat tempo of Don
Jazzy. On this particular album, Wande Coal is relatively very average. Perhaps,
he is reserving his energy for his upcoming album. Anyway, he is the best on
that album.
There is a relative lack of structural variety
with the beats. Don Jazzy refuse to go wild or wide with the range of beat. He fixates
on making club hits. He restricts his expression
on the album. Are the intros on all the tracks really necessary? I don’t think
so.
I won’t classify the album as a failure. Afterall,
it’s a freebie, and a hurried job, produced in the space of three weeks, as
confirmed by the don himself on Twitter.
A rating of four out of ten is what I will give to it. Consider the
album an appetizer. The main course is on the way. We can expect a more sumptuous song from the
Mavin Crew as they settled down to business. Now is not the time for Don Jazzy to
lose his art; he could only get better, like an old wine.
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