‘ Made In Lagos’, no doubt, came as the most highly anticipated album in contemporary Nigerian music history but not just because we had been expecting its any-minute-now landing for several years. Wizkid FC (the name his fans have attached to themselves, fittingly referencing Wizkid’s plural jersey releases) remained loyal and keen, as always. Unlike the Boy Who Cried Wolf, however, ‘ Made In Lagos’ never lost any steam.
In the roughly thirty-three months between the first whispers of ‘ Made In Lagos’ and its final arrival in the last week of October 2020, Wizkid subjected eager ears across the globe to countless false starts – some more convincing than others – resulting in ‘believe it when I see it’ scrutiny to each new announcement that followed the last disappointment, inviting unending memes across social media cyberspaces. Since the original Starboy first revealed plans of his fourth studio album, with the hashtag #MadeInLagos appearing as early as February 2018, multiple hit singles, shows, and awards, a label compilation album with his new signees, and even several collaborative merch drops, all went by with no album in sight. The album that has been ‘Status: Imminent’ for nearly three years now, finally arrived on October 29, 2020. Over a week after its release, it still feels surreal. This time exhibiting confidence, maturity and sophistication, ‘Made In Lagos’ is coloured by live instruments and a worldly selection of featured artists, making a successful amalgamation of the afropop sound Wizkid popularised worldwide. His second feature-length release under Sony Music Entertainment’s RCA Records, ‘Made In Lagos’ is a concurrent and refined follow up to his then-experimental ‘Sounds From The Other Side’. ‘Made In Lagos’ is Wizkid’s fourth studio album in his decade-long reign at the top of African pop’s totem pole.
0 kommentar(er)
