On his brand new EP, Ruger Takes The Edge Off And Embraces The Best Parts Of His Unhinged Persona.
At the turn of the new decade, Ruger rose to prominence due to his unabashed honesty and sensual vulgarity that made him a promiscuous menace in women’s hearts and Dancehall leaning beats. There was no mincing words about his bad boy escapades and he was unapologetic also—blaming his treachery on the coquettish ways of the women infatuated with him. The women could indeed see through his BS, but it’s one thing being self aware and it’s another having the preservation to resist him.
And so Ruger went on to craft multiple projects—albums and EPs alike—documenting his exhilarating sexual expeditions and highlighting the flexibility of said women’s willpower, as long as he kept them satisfied. There isn’t a lot of depth to Ruger’s writing and it rarely goes beyond surface level posturing, but his knack of finding new angles in swaying women into a good time is honestly impressive. On his sophomore LP, it seemed like he had exhausted all his charm but on this new EP, he sounds as abrasively intriguing as ever.
She Don’t Like Men might sound like a tribute to free-spirited bisexual women but in actuality, it’s the wailing of a conservative degenerate like Ruger who is self-aware to understand that he can’t indulge the full scope of his partner’s sexuality and therefore prays that she doesn’t encounter someone more licentious and open to pushing her past her limits. Ruger delivers trademark cheeky lines like, “I cover my girlfriend with the blood of Jesus, because I can’t fight a woman because of a woman” and it works to a tee because open minded or not, it’s no straight man dream to lose his woman to another woman.
All Die is more upbeat and heads into percussive Afropop territory, with Ruger singing about his schemes of winning a woman’s heart over scores of suitors. It seems like a sharp deviation from his sentiment of not wanting to fight over his love interest on the previous track to repeatedly clamoring “all die na die” on this new track, but if there’s one thing about lust/love is that it drives people crazy and makes them betray their own personal principles. Ruger explores Brazilian funk once again with Private Chef and while it doesn’t touch the lightning he bottled with Toma Toma, it’s still a good song where Ruger reminds us he’s for the streets, by declaring his intent to get with other women and ending things with his current flame.
Musa Keys and Young Stunna are refreshing additions on the Afro-tech track, Do Nothing where Ruger admits for the first time ever that his sexually deviant lifestyle is expensive to maintain and he’s slowly losing his mind. Like a junkie, he’s not resorting to healthy means to curb his excesses and is instead looking for alternatives to maintain his high and pleads, “Where una dey see this money?” repeatedly on the chorus.
Loved At Home is somewhat a filler track, with a clunky chorus of Ruger insisting on a girl for no reason other than the fact that she’s a conquest. Sure, playboys do love challenges and live for the thrills, but his motivation here simply seems borne out of boredom and not for a unique reason said woman has him transfixed. Of course, Ruger can sing for whatsoever reason but if he sounds bored, then the song will inherently be boring too.
Jesus Loves Me sounds like the obligatory prayer-of-gratitude-closing trope that Afrobeats artists love to fulfill on their albums, except it’s a more forced sentiment here because Ruger’s antics have shown zero consideration of a higher spiritual entity or being. Indeed, someone can believe in God and feel absolutely no reason to extol him by their actions but when said person says God is a priority, it’s a statement that will rightfully elicit raised brows. If Ruger approached this song from an angle of trying and failing to live in accordance to God’s will, it’ll automatically be more believable and relatable because it’s a universal struggle.
Ruger’s new EP is no groundbreaking accomplishment in his discography. It doesn’t chart new territory or have him exploring new soundscapes, but it does have him back in his abrasive, unhinged self where he takes the edge off and sings about the crudest of things with no filters and for now, that will be enough. It’s a good return to form after a brief spell of holding back.
Final Verdict:
Sonic Cohesion: 1.3/2
Expansive Production: 1.3/2
Songwriting: 1.4/2
Delivery: 1.5/2
Track Sequencing: 1.5/2
Total: 7.0/10
