TITLE – No Guts No Glory
LEAD SINGLE – Ghost Mode
PRODUCTION – Chopstix, JStunt, Major Bangz, Phyno, Wizzypro
GUEST ARTISTES – Efa, Flavour, Ice Prince, M.I, Mr. Raw, Olamide, Omawumi, PSquare, Runtown, Stormex, Timaya
RECORD LABEL/DISTRIBUTION – Sputnet/Penthauze/UBA Pacific
LEAD SINGLE – Ghost Mode
PRODUCTION – Chopstix, JStunt, Major Bangz, Phyno, Wizzypro
GUEST ARTISTES – Efa, Flavour, Ice Prince, M.I, Mr. Raw, Olamide, Omawumi, PSquare, Runtown, Stormex, Timaya
RECORD LABEL/DISTRIBUTION – Sputnet/Penthauze/UBA Pacific
In keeping with our sometimes self-deprecating appreciation of all things Ghanaian, there used to be a time when many Nigerian Hip-Hop enthusiasts looked enviously at the Ghanaian hip-life model. Not anymore. In Ghana, indigenous Hip-Hop/hip-life has been mainstream for the longest, allowing multiple cultures to participate and forcing rappers who rap in English to the underground.
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In 2010 for instance, even though Kwaw Kesse raps in the less popular Ga language, he became the first Ghanaian rapper to be spotlighted on BET. The advantages of this model are therefore clear, most African countries are multilingual and the dominance of Hip-Hop in one local language could alienate certain fans. Furthermore, Hip-Hop with a strong indigenous identity is easier to export, sample Sarkodie, the first indigenous West African rapper to have signed with a big US imprint – Konvict Music, even though Akon has developed a reputation for offering phantom record deals to African artistes but I digress. So while it took us a while, Nigeria’s own multilingual Hip-Hop scene is now maturing and Phyno is one of its faces.
Even though many have prematurely christened him the ‘King of Eastern Hip-Hop’, it’s good to see Phyno recognizes the work of those before him. On the glorified shout-out session Alobam, he recognizes Igbo Hip-Hop stalwarts Slow Dogg and Illbliss, while on the soulful and sorrowful Good Die Young, the Enugu-bred rapper includes MC Loph in the roll call of friends he’s lost to untimely deaths – ‘maka then i gu Igbo rappers oso na first two [then if you count Igbo rappers he (MC Loph) was in the first two]’. The second rapper would undoubtedly be Mr. Raw, a rapper Phyno idolizes. Phyno makes sure to sneak in the solitary Mr. Raw feature – Multiply just before the project closes. The song is almost 3 years old and the fact that a subdued Phyno raps in Queen’s English provides the perfect contrast for his evolution as an artiste and producer. Today, Phyno is an edgy rapper who, in just one album, has mastered the art of delivery to the point where he is able to transfer his energy to Igbo speakers and non-Igbo speakers alike. That’s the reason why Parcel and Man of the Year (Obago) shattered all formats before them and have enjoyed massive airplay nationwide.
Phyno has already demonstrated that he possesses the dynamism to carry songs alone – production, chorus, verses, bridge and even adlibs. So on NGNG, he features his peers only on songs where they’d add value, like Omawumi’s celestial performance on Chukwu na enye which elevates it from a good hi-life tune to a great candidate for ‘Prayer and Worship’ sessions in church. And while three artistes appear more than once on NGNG, they do so for understandable reasons. Phyno’s label mate Runtown needs all the exposure that the celebratory Holiday and the speaker-rattling Anamachi Versace will bring to him, while a co-sign from Nigeria’s No.1 MC never hurt anyone, right? So over a stripped down beat from Chopstix (Icholia), M.I shows up again and declares – ‘Ice (Prince) got the South, Phyno got the East, Olamide’s in the West…’ Thus aptly summarizing the indigenous rap scene and bringing us to our third artiste, Olamide, a man with whom Phyno already shares the hugely popular bilingual hit - Ghost Mode. They try to recreate the magic on the boisterous Aju where they trade barbs about how their raps leave listeners dizzy. The chemistry between these two MCs is said to be so good that they are currently working on a collaborative project – 2 Kings. If that is true, then the cultural implication of such a project cannot be overstated; these two are challenging the stereotype that Igbo and Yoruba people simply don’t get along. Kudos.
Even before that album comes, NGNG is destined to have an impact of its own – by widening the landscape of indigenous Nigerian Hip-Hop. That’s what Phyno has been able to do for the culture. What he has been able to do for himself however is demonstrate enough consistency to show that his hit streak from 2012 -2014 was no fluke and that he can be the man, not only for these years but also, for the years to come.
ALBUM RATING – 4.1/5
- NIGERIA ENTERTAINMENT TODAY
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