Wizkid Is On A Roll And It’s Down To His Newly-found, Ingenious Album-making Formula — It Works Like Magic

More Love, Less Ego Album Cover

It’s the 30th of October 2020 and Wizkid has just dropped Made In Lagos. “Trash” is the number one trend on Twitter Ng and it is trending alongside Wizkid’s just-released album. It is a trend that results from a mix of genuineness and scummy bants that is now typical of Nigerian music Twitter — can’t tell which is which. But I can tell that it is premature; not just in this instance, adjudging musical projects (especially when they are from proven creatives) minutes/a couple of hours after their release is a concept that is never going to make sense. I’m listening to the album and to be honest, while I’m trying to immerse myself in the album I’m also confused by its strangeness. A mix of emotions trails my attempt to sleep. 

It’s several days after the release of Made In Lagos. On one hand, there have been a lot of reviews — most of them crappy and nescient. On the other hand, I can’t stop listening to Made In Lagos. I have never taken crack but does crack get more addictive than this? I never want to know. I have decided that it’s Wizkid’s best album and I’m now planning to relisten to classic, high-quality Nigerian albums because I’m starting to think this could be the best contemporary Nigerian album ever, and I want to put that thought to a test so as not to seem nescient (🙂). Those crappy reviews are not aging well and “trash” has now become “wow.” People are not saying it but I can hear the “what’s-this-album” thoughts. Words like afro-jazz and afro-juju have instead become substitutes for “this is a great album” and “this is amazing,” but yeah — apology accepted. 

It’s the 17th of October and I’m writing this. Made In Lagos has spent more than two years on the Billboard World Album chart — an African record streak by far. Essence, a track on the album, reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and is currently triple platinum in the United States — an African record. The album itself re-charted on Billboard Hot 200 about 6 months after its release and peaked in the top 30 — a then-record for Nigerian music. The album became an objective classic, an era-defining project for Nigerian music, and a certified all-timer. 

So what follows an album as good as that? Well, Wizkid dropped a new album titled More Love, Less Ego on the 11th of November — 6 days before my attempt at creating this write-up; obviously, he decided to stick with the ‘M’ trend. People have learned not to prematurely diss Wizkid’s music — at least, not loudly. But what’s with Wizkid though? Why can’t I just listen to an album, and in a fashion typical to Popular Culture, forget it exists one week after? What’s with this afro-juju or afro-grow — like some people now conspicuously call it? Moments after the album dropped, It felt like I was re-experiencing the moments after Made In Lagos dropped. At first, it felt like a weirdly cohesive album with a missing catchiness; then, it feels like crack. Well, what’s more catchy than crack?

It’s just the same formula as Made In Lagos’. Minimal music, simple rhyme scheme, live instrumentation, superb melody, a medley of genres, and amazing production. The sound is so detailed and the melody is so good; one moment, you are amazed that Money & Love has an instrumental humming in the background after your 50th listening — the next moment you are restarting Balance to relive the incredible bassline that started at the second half of the first verse and kept coming back throughout the song. This refreshingness — Mixed with his everlasting ability to create insanely good melodies, are the details that define Wizkid’s new sound. You know how one keeps going over Jay-Z’s bars to figure out the triple entendre? It’s the same way you go back to Wizkid’s music to figure out the obscure use of instrumentals and the catchy ad-libs. It works… like magic.

More Love, Less Ego blends Afrobeat with funky RnB, elements of Reggae, and elements of Pop. Thematically, the album seems like an endless attempt to invoke sexiness. Money & Love is way different from Reckless in terms of lyrical quality but just as good in terms of sound. It starts with a typical afrobeat pattern and grows into a blend of afrobeat and soulful RnB; In a fitting manner, he sultrily sings about his life and his attempt to get a girl. The first three songs on the album give you a feeling that you are about to go on a journey of sound perfection with the way Balance and Bad To Me easily edge Money & Love. And even though the middle part of the journey is not as clinical as Made In Lagos’, the end of the journey with Pressure — Plenty Loving — Special — and Frames (Who’s Gonna Know)  holds up the enthrallment.   

On More Love, Less Ego, the sound is even better. It contains songs that have the tendency to become global hits because it’s more incorporative of elements that make a global hit. It also contains songs that could penetrate the clubs in his home country, Nigeria. On Deep, there is a blend of dancehall and pop; On Flower Pads, there is a domineering Latin sound that has the potential to make those Essence’s numbers look normal. Conversely, Bad To Me — a blend of Amapiano and afro-sound — is an instant hit more typical of the African market. 

While the features on Made In Lagos elevated the album to a staggering high, the features on More Love, Less Ego — though apposite — fail to do that. For instance, songs like Blessed — Piece of Me — True Love — and Essence bring the necessary sophistication still lacking in Wizkid’s lyricism while holding up the standard of the sound. Features on More Love, Less Ego instead rely on the high created by the solos on the album while they slot in quiescently. 

In General, More Love, Less Ego is a high-quality album that keeps up the run started by Soundman Vol 1 and accelerated by Made In Lagos. Wizkid is on a roll and it is all because of his newly-found, ingenious album-making formula that seems to be perpetually in refinement. The formula works and if you are in doubt, just watch what the album does.

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