With his new self-titled album, Djinee finally 'un-bottled' himself, after a necessary period of musical hibernation.
When Ego, his hit single, rocked the airwaves in 2007, it seemed that the singer was on his way to instant fame, but his seeming refusal to release a full-length album gave his fans worries. Well, Djinee’s self-titled album has been out for some time now. And it does sound like it was worth the wait after all.
In the 17-track album, Djinee stays true to his voice and his preferred sound, soul; but he reveals deep emotions — love, passion, pain, pleasure, anger — which thrust him up as one of Nigeria’s finest male vocalists. He hugs the listener with tracks like My Pillow, and tears away with others like Overkillin’ as he experimented with different genres (highlife, rock, pop, classical, calypso, opera), getting away with most. Djinee’s voice is distinct, as he evinces on the upbeat likely chart-buster, Overkillin’, where one might initially mistake the vocals for somebody else’s. Niger Delta Blues could have well been the title of that track. In Uruese, meaning "Thank You”, delivered in the Esan language of Edo Sate, he goes traditional with a modern twist.
His other hit singles, Lade and I No Dey Shame also stand out. But, surprisingly, he only does a skit of his claim to fame, Ego, in track six (sure most of his fans might have preferred him doing the full tracker on that one). Track nine, Na My Wife, is likely to become another wedding anthem in the mould of Oruka by Sunny Neji.
With heavyweight collaborations, Dijnee gives his voice free rein in most of the tracks such as Come Rain, Come Shine (featuring Ego) and Thank You, although this and a couple of tracks came off like he was trying to outdo himself vocally. But he generally pulls off a great performance that is full of energy and dexterity. With thought-provoking lyrics, soulful sounds mixed with up-tempo beats, maybe, The Album by Djinee shows an artiste finally comfortable with his musical powers
© ARUKAINO UMUKORO
No comments:
Post a Comment