Blaqbonez is the textbook self-made artist, or about as close as they come in the Nigerian music industry. Starting out in a less followed genre, he knew he would have to put in double the effort to sell himself, and this he did. Twitter users will remember the mini pandemic that was #streamhaba, a 1 man campaign started by the rapper to harass people into playing his 2020 single, “Haba”.
What began as an annoyance would grow to become a movement, recruiting other users into his campaign that drove the track up the trend tables, and later, the charts. For subsequent releases he invented newer gimmicks, like moving around with a black cock (for BBC), decking out in Fendi (for “Fendi”) and (apparently) buying a new car (for “Four Door Jeep”) amongst others, all cleverly crafted to garner eyeballs to social media posts, and hopefully, ears to the songs.
Efforts for publicity, of course, need to be backed by talent, because cleverly convincing people to stream your music is a trick that will work exactly once – the next time, they’ll go with what their ears say. For Blaqbonez, this proved to be only a small challenge. He may not really be Africa’s best rapper, a claim he made 3 years ago and still holds on to, even if not so strongly (he didn’t mention it once on the LP), but his writing and delivery will rank with those of nearly any rapper in the country, even if that is not as large a pool as it suggests.
It isn’t uncommon for this pool to shrink even further when a rapper exchanges this genre for the commercial glitter of afropop, but Blaqbonez, 10 years a rapper now, has not only persisted, but he will be recognised as one of a few leading Nigeria’s hip hop revival.
“Young Preacher,” his 6th project in 4 years is a continuation of its prequels, as he digs deeper into the personality that has brought him this far. It must have been quite some feat to top the lewdness of an album named Sex Over Love, but Blaqbonez has done this effortlessly, albeit at a cost to the album’s thematic range.
The titular track, which opens the album is the greatest indicator of the focus of this LP. Here Blaqbonez introduces us to the Young Preacher, who, contrary to the preachers of christainity and a fair few other religions, wants to spread the message of sexual liberation. “Fuck that energy, I fuck whoever I want”.
Sandwiched between messages like these, he spares a minute in the middle of the track to philosophise on the concepts of religion and a monotheist God, and then reflect on his journey. However, if this was to inspire anyone to hope for some deep message from the album, they might be setting up for some disappointment.
Most of the album fits into this sexual theme. On “HOT BOY”, he proclaims himself “Black to the bones”, an assertion that many will feel is being put lightly as the very next lines invent a few different ways to describe the act of coitus – “Knack am, knack am, knack am tеach her carpentry” before “But if she come around I give her BBC” and finally “Bomboclaat me spread her leg like gymnastics”. Blaqbonez shows his capacity for luscious writing is truly inexhaustible.
He is also notorious for being a little stingy with his choruses, and there is no greater evidence of this than the 2020 single, Bling, which had BNXN and Amaarae, vocalists as talented as you will find in these parts, relegated to a verse each at the end, while he handles the four word chorus –”bling, bling, bling, bling” – himself. For Lojay, however, Blaqbonez will make an exception, an excellent artistic decision.
The resulting song, “WHISTLE”, starts out with a love-addled hook that is unbecoming for a Blaqbonez album; “Know it’s been a rough couple months we are apart and I’m missing you, you oh” which Blaqbonez quickly corrects when he comes on board. Amaarae is along for this ride as well, and she brings with her signature sultry delivery, ensuring the track finely straddles the line between love and sex.
This is mostly carried over to “FASHIONNOVA”, which intends to be a hot girls anthem. It starts off with a narration of meeting a new girl at a bar, but it isn’t long before he slips into typical Blaqbonez and this one girl becomes two, three, and four. He says their names over a simple afropop production, which he galvanizes to life with his rap on the verses. Add to this a chorus that taps into 2022’s staple of anthemic choruses, and there’s a track that will not be quickly forgotten.
The singles released prior to the album, “BACK IN UNI” and “FAKE NIKES” close out the first half of the LP in a relatable fashion. Everyone can relate to having purchased counterfeit luxury products in a country where most receive with too little cash flow and too much to use it for. Blaqbonez, as the star he is, almost certainly does not belong to this category, but he speaks for those who do – let people wear what they can afford without shame, the message is clear.
On “BACK IN UNI”, he reminisces on university days, but not for late evening classes or the camaraderie of the hostel environment, but his promiscuity with women. JAE 5 keeps things simple, providing a bobbing beat over which Blaqbonez glides for a delivery that is equal parts hip hop and afropop.
The next quartet of songs, “RING RING”, “LOYALTY”, “SHE LIKE IGBO” and “ESS MAMA” provide more of the same, and it is at this point that Blaqbonez’s attempts to stoke the same feelings of shock with his lyrics will begin to get tiresome, and the desired effect – to evoke a startled gasp from Nigerians more at home with a conservative culture – start to wear off.
He said on “HOT BOY” that “They told me toxic music is sellin’/ But this one no be sales, this is real life, tell em”, seeking to differentiate himself from artists who embrace a toxic view of love for its new marketability, and while his actual commitment to this personality is beyond doubt, there are only so many ways you can present the act of sex before its monotony is apparent to your listener.
Sex Over Love, named as it was, did not make much room for songs outside its titular focus. A track like “Best Friend”, however, featuring real life BFF Superboy Cheque helped put a new perspective to the rapper. Young Preacher makes a better attempt at this, with track 12, “STAR LIFE”, where he reflects on his new life over slow paced log drums (a la CKay‘s “You”), and the Asa-sampling “I’LL BE WAITING” ending the album on a hopeful note, but as good these tracks are, they are too little and left too late.
While the entire album is interspersed by the voice of a female guide who takes listeners through various phases of the album, these different sections are heterogenous. For sound, Blaqbonez is more robust, as he swivels between traditional hip hop sounds and afropop, but mostly settles somewhere in the middle, which makes for enjoyable music, and variety – two points many rappers struggle with. However, as he enters the next stage of his career and gives one final parting to adjectives like ‘underground’ and ‘upcoming’, it’s about time Blaqbonez discovers the depth of material available to him outside the confines of sexual depravity.
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