It does not take a perceptive music critic to pick up on the obvious flaws of Sound Sultan’s 6th
studio album, ‘Me,my mouth and eyes’. Like his ageless looks, they
assault you at first listen, then become exacerbated with multiple
spins.
First off, it is too long. 20 tracks long, about half of them consisting of uninteresting stuff. Then it is poorly arranged. There is almost no logic or sequence. After an explosive opener, ‘Kokose’ where Sound Sultan attempts to keep up with Wizkid all the way, it begins to decline gradually. ‘Kokose’ is an attempt to rope in the younger ones who swear by anything Weezy does and it serves it’s purpose here. The delightful lead single ‘Natural something’ follows and then the rest is a messy clutter.
There are questionable song choices here, like the ancient ‘Orobo’ with Flavour which has to be at least 2 years old. Then there is the inclusion of songs like ‘Luv language’ and ‘Kuru komaga’ with their accompanyng remixes. Only Sound Sultan is not exactly sure which ones should be the remix. In the case of ‘Luv language’, the remix featuring a game Duncan Mighty shows up first only for the moderately anemic original- absent Duncan Mighty- to appear much later in the disc. It’s all very confusing. From Haiti with love, Wyclef shows up on the dismal ‘People bad’(which may be another remix) and name checks his new ‘family’; one that includes 2face, D’Banj and Ikechukwu.
The good bits are embodied in the broad, reggae-tinged ode to the motherland titled ‘Africa’ , the playful, clappy chant of ‘Like mi’ as well as the melancholic blush that coats the uplifting ‘Still I rise’. Sound Sultan remains a terrific song writer and time has not robbed him of this skill. He concocts some fine lines but the problem lies in his arrangement and production.
He has also become a record label boss and on the disc, he introduces some of the acts under the Naija ninja label. The female, YounggreyC shines the brightest and gets her star turn in the trado-contemporary ‘Lagbo lagbo’. It is an advantage she makes use of maximally. Sean Tizzle assists on the sappy love song ‘Follow you go’ and bff 2face Idibia is on the trancy but undistinguished bonus, ‘One’.
It is easy to see how this album could have been excellent, maybe even great. A lot of cutting and sniping would have done all the magic. It is something one would be within limits to expect from the Naija ninja. That after 12 years of being a pop star, he’d understand the importance of brevity. ‘Me, my mouth and eye’ just keeps firing blandly with no clear defining purpose, hoping that something, anything will stick.
Unfortunately not much does.
First off, it is too long. 20 tracks long, about half of them consisting of uninteresting stuff. Then it is poorly arranged. There is almost no logic or sequence. After an explosive opener, ‘Kokose’ where Sound Sultan attempts to keep up with Wizkid all the way, it begins to decline gradually. ‘Kokose’ is an attempt to rope in the younger ones who swear by anything Weezy does and it serves it’s purpose here. The delightful lead single ‘Natural something’ follows and then the rest is a messy clutter.
There are questionable song choices here, like the ancient ‘Orobo’ with Flavour which has to be at least 2 years old. Then there is the inclusion of songs like ‘Luv language’ and ‘Kuru komaga’ with their accompanyng remixes. Only Sound Sultan is not exactly sure which ones should be the remix. In the case of ‘Luv language’, the remix featuring a game Duncan Mighty shows up first only for the moderately anemic original- absent Duncan Mighty- to appear much later in the disc. It’s all very confusing. From Haiti with love, Wyclef shows up on the dismal ‘People bad’(which may be another remix) and name checks his new ‘family’; one that includes 2face, D’Banj and Ikechukwu.
The good bits are embodied in the broad, reggae-tinged ode to the motherland titled ‘Africa’ , the playful, clappy chant of ‘Like mi’ as well as the melancholic blush that coats the uplifting ‘Still I rise’. Sound Sultan remains a terrific song writer and time has not robbed him of this skill. He concocts some fine lines but the problem lies in his arrangement and production.
He has also become a record label boss and on the disc, he introduces some of the acts under the Naija ninja label. The female, YounggreyC shines the brightest and gets her star turn in the trado-contemporary ‘Lagbo lagbo’. It is an advantage she makes use of maximally. Sean Tizzle assists on the sappy love song ‘Follow you go’ and bff 2face Idibia is on the trancy but undistinguished bonus, ‘One’.
It is easy to see how this album could have been excellent, maybe even great. A lot of cutting and sniping would have done all the magic. It is something one would be within limits to expect from the Naija ninja. That after 12 years of being a pop star, he’d understand the importance of brevity. ‘Me, my mouth and eye’ just keeps firing blandly with no clear defining purpose, hoping that something, anything will stick.
Unfortunately not much does.
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