Album- The Evolution
Artiste- Triple M G (Iyanya, Baci, Tekno, Selebobo, Emma Nyra)
Producers- Selebobo, Tekno, DJ Coublon
Record Label- Triple M G (2014)
Duration- 51 minutes
Triple MG Hasn’t Evolved And Is Far From Made.
This review is going to be swift and short. Triple MG is the label Iyanya and his manager Ubi Franklin built. With the success of Iyanya over the last couple of years, Made Men Music Group has moved from an upstart label to one of the most promising imprints in the country. To expand and solidify its presence in the crowded pop market, the label has released a compilation album featuring its acts. Iyanya leads the pack, Emma Nyra is the first lady, Tekno is the new kid on the block, Baci- the day one fam, and Selebobo- the in house producer who moonlights as an artiste.
This is the second LP that Triple MG has released. The last project, Iyanya Vs. Desire was largely produced by D’Tunes. The young producer left the imprint to establish his own imprint ‘Difference Entertainment’ spearheaded by Sean Tizzle. Sticking to the one producer-one formula album, Selebobo is the man behind the boards on this project. After making a name for himself by producing a few sleeper hits, and constructing Yemi Alade’s smash hit ‘Johnny’, Selebobo is one of the fast rising producers in the game. Unfortunately, his work on ‘The Evolution’ has knocked him down a few places.
The production on the compilation album is run of the mill, bland and boring. The whole crew comes out on the opener ‘Say yeah’, but the song lacks the punch to get the project going. There is little or no connection among the acts, so the song comes off as disjointed. The captain of the pack, Iyanya makes his first solo appearance on ‘Mr. orio’. ‘You go gaga when you log on to this, because I am one of a kind’ sings Iyanya. While this track has some bright spots, it’s not the enchanting work we’ve associated Iyanya with. Baci and Iyanya feature on ‘Angelina’. The aim here is to produce the standard Nigerian pop track, easy rhymes, sweet hooks, but this formula doesn’t produce the full effect. This is old territory here. ‘Angelina’ sounds like any Naija pop song. ‘Asampete’ is Selebobo’s first solo offering on the album. It is the obligatory highlife song on a Nigerian pop album. At this point, people should be used to this trick. He tries his hands on a more contemporary subject matter on ‘Selfie’. ‘Everyone wants to take a selfie, everyone wants to take a pose. Selfie no mean say you selfish’ sings Selebobo on the first verse on the song. This track is more promising than his previous songs.
From just one listen, you will know that The Evolution is just a collection of songs lumped together. On second listen, you’ll realize that the artistes saved their best tracks for their solo album instead of putting it on the compilation project. With a lack of direction, the album sounds disjointed and scattered.
Fortunately, the album has a few stand out songs. ‘Amigo’ can be classified as Emma Nyra’s first enjoyable song. It has the potential to do better than her previously released singles. The groove she has been looking for in her singles is present on this track. It’s one of the few good Selebobo produced tracks on the album. Meanwhile, Iyanya will always be more comfortable when he is singing R&B. Luckily he goes back to his musical roots on ‘Dreaming’ featuring Emma Nyra. ‘If I am dreaming, I don’t need to fu*k up, so I’ll rather stay here, and love you in my dream’ sings Iyanya on the song’s hook. This song is the gem of the album.
Tekno brings some heavy knocks on ‘Showcase’, while Baci makes a case for himself on the surprising ‘Follow you’. With this song, he proves that he is more than an ‘extra’ in the crew of made men and woman.
Spanning 51 minutes, The Evolution is a burden to listen to. The dope tracks on the album can’t save the album from what it is: a disjointed, hurriedly put together project. Selebobo needs to craft a proper sonic foundation for his label mates. The acts on the label need to bring something exciting and refreshing to the table. With this album, these artistes’ evolution is far from made.