For those who favour full projects over singles, for “hot off the studio” music with moods that range from party time and romance to relationship woes and melancholy, these are the best EPs that dropped during the week.
LOVRBOY — Praiz
Just in time for the Valentine season, Nigerian singer-songwriter, Praiz, rolled out an EP titled LOVRBOY. A collection of four songs that dig into love, longing, intimacy and the romantic notions he holds about his lover, LOVRBOY is a short and fresh project to play on repeat with your own lover.
OLORI (The EP) — Logos Olori
Logos Olori introduces his music in an expansive way: a seven-track project. Pop-ready and prepared for the mainstream, Logos sings about love and enjoyment with guest appearances from his label boss, Davido, on Easy On Me, and Hmm Hmm with South Africa’s Musa Keys. It may be a regurgitation of generic Afropop topics, but the production holds the music together. Logos’ melodies and tranquil delivery make his music worthy to listen to.
PRISMATIC BLVCK — Blvck Topia
Blvck Topia is a digital artist and creative director with a music career spanning over three years. His latest EP, PRISMATIC BLVCK, paints visuals of sonder, love and the beauty within. He shares a peek into his escapism habits on Beautiful mind and Ah Ah, his romantic life on Bad and compares himself to Ota Benga on Blvck Boy. The production offers a potent psychedelic mood, and Topia’s vocals offer some shade from the depth of emotions. PRISMATIC BLVCK is calmness in stormy weather.
MUIS EP — Muis
This titular five-song EP leads with SAATI RAMONI, a sleeper Afropop bop that Muis released as a single in 2023. The song may be Afro-Adura — one of the many new sons of Afrobeats — but the EP offers more. It showcases Muis’ vocal and songwriting skills, revealing that he can hold the ears of the streets and the ladies. OMALICHA and OH MY GYAL (KUMBAYA) with producer, Ozedikus, introduced his bad-boy-next-door side in Afropop touched with dancehall. He found love he wants to keep on WAYO, and the amapiano-powered closing track, MY BABY, pulls him and this new love to the dance floor.
H.A.R.D — YDEE YDEE
H.A.R.D is an acronym for Hip-Hop Across Rhythmic Dimensions. From the feel-good songs like GOOD TIME, afro-swing jam, I LIKE IT, and Afropop-edgy JEJE to the rap cuts that close out the project, H.A.R.D shows us Hip-Hop from an experimental perspective. It’s applaudable how the music producer, artist and collaborators all poured Afropop-edge into making something so thematically cohesive and representative of its title.
It’s About A Girl — Kinj K.A.D.E
Dramatic and toxic relationships take centre stage on Kinj K.A.D.E’s EP It’s About A Girl. The singer displays a calm but firm grip on R&B smoothly blended with Trap Soul and Afro elements to express his versatility and aid connection with the local environment. If you’re still sentimental about an ex, or tired of relationships and thinking of entering the streets, firstly, get lost in Kinj K.A.D.E’s story about a girl and imagine it as yours.
Our Valentine Special is here. We brought back three couples – one now with kids, one now married and the last, still best friends – to share how their relationships have evolved in the last five years. Watch the first episode below:
Ritmo Mafiaso — Idowest
Nigerian rapper, Idowest, just stacked his discography with a new EP, Ritmo Mafioso, meaning “mafia rhythm”. It’s a skein of street catchphrases, religious innuendos, and party and money yarnings across seven songs weaved on majorly Amapiano production. Idowest wants you on your feet, grooving.
Hooligan / Why — Lucid
Burgeoning Afropop singer, Lucid, starts his 2024 with a two-pack single Hooligan and Why after his introductory Hi I’m Lulu EP of 2023. In deep reflection, the first song expresses his debaucherous vices as symptomatic of his environment. Lucid hangs to the belief that if he doesn’t find time to curb these vices, he might be headed down a lost road. The song smoothly segues into his lover-boy moment on Why. Two vulnerable emotions in one pack, for the lost kids and lovebirds.
