It’s the season of love once again and if there is a universal language of expression that transcends cultural and lingual barriers, it’s most definitely music. This list has been specifically curated for the true yearners and lovers in mind, as they indulge in the romantic festivities of the day. Here are seven albums that hit a lot better when you’re in love.
1. Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps — Fireboy DML
There is much ado about the best Fireboy album, a discource that’s mostly centred around his first two classic LPs and sparsely, his most recent one but it’s LTG that’s the unapologetic love record. As a newly minted popstar, Fireboy’s outlook on love was earnest and wholesome—producing unfiltered moments of vulnerability and true yearning. This album doesn’t shy away from wearing emotions on its sleeves unabashedly and it’s all the more better for it.
2. Body & Soul – Joeboy
Is there an Afropop artiste with a more underrated discography than Joeboy? Probably not. The self dubbed Afrobeats posterboy of romance has a catalogue that will have you swooning for days but it’s his sophomore album that takes the cake. If LTG was an unparalleled expression of a love from a starry-eyed adult, Body & Soul is a potent confession from an assured lover. This sentiment doesn’t necessarily temper the flames of passion, if anything they make them emboldened because they’re coming from a steadfast place.
3. King Of Love – Kizz Daniel
Despite being a solid cohesive body of work and one of Kizz Daniel’s best, King Of Love was slept on when it arrived in summer 2020. Kizz broke into the mainstream with an evergreen, classic love record in Woju and has gone on to release even more timeless music and albums that dabbled with varying subject matters, but none is a celebratory love record like King Of Love. I mean, it’s all in the title. Sure it’s infused with differing perspectives that range from the standard romantic tropes, to dehumanizing love sacrifices and even jaded anthems but it makes for a very realistic listen.
4. Sad Romance – Ckay
KOL isn’t the sole album on this list that offers glimpses into the harrowing constraints of love. Ckay’s debut album, Sad Romance is ’emo-Afrobeats’ at its best. Ckay isn’t the brilliant writer like the other aforementioned artists on this list so far, but what he lacks for in poetry, he makes up for it with visceral vocal performances that convey deep emotions that lyrics can’t adequately capture. This record is also heavy on the eroticism, because how can love be all encompassing without sexual intimacy?
5. Boo Of The Booless – Chike
When Chike released his debut album, he wasn’t an established artist on the scene. It is tradition for underground acts to release EPs as their debut body of works in the streaming era, but Chike broke convention and did the unexpected. What followed was an humongous level of critical acclaim and commercial success that could only be explained through the quality of the music. Despite the marketing of the album as a companion to the “booless” and it dropping on Valentine’s to that effect, it’s a record brimming to the top with feels that are more resonant when you have that one person stuck in your head.
6. Madam Dearest, Pt. 1 – DOTTi The Deity
Like the preceding classic album on this list, DOTTi’s debut album ventures deep into cultural territory and is a profound amalgamation of folk, highlife and soul music. It’s a beautiful album that is entrenched in cultural nostalgia, without sacrificing its contemporary edge. Vivid imagery of confessional musings under palm wine trees, grand declarations of love in open spaces and handwritten love letters that don’t renege on emotions—Madam Dearest isn’t short on immersion, made possible as a result of DOTTi’s brilliant writing.
7. Master Of Ballads – Dwin, The Stoic
We’ve had Afro-R&B albums, folk albums and records that dabble with Highlife too. Surely, there has to be something for classic music lovers on this list. Dwin’s Master Of Ballads perfectly encapsulates the folly behind true yearning, that persists even in the absence of reciprocity and peace of mind. Love isn’t transactional or contingent on give and take—and while a healthy relationship should depict a dynamic where both individuals involved are trying their best, sometimes someone—a particular person needs to fight a tad harder, and in this story it’s Dwin.
