On His Sophomore EP, Kemuel Wears His Emotions On His Sleeve And Throws One Hell Of A Party.
Kemuel is an elite talent and that’s never been in doubt, since he surfaced on the radar of most in 2023—with an Olamide and Spinall co-sign. Since then, he’s released a debut EP that was a masterclass in EDM & RnB fusion, partied with Wizkid and consolidated his stake further as one of the new exciting talents to look out for on the music scene.
Now with his new EP, he’s experimenting even further and pushing the needle with House fusion. Despite being grounded in RnB sensibilities of soulful vocals, relatable romantic sentiments and candid love confessions—Kemuel has a knack of coming alive on production charged with House and Electronic music elements. And on this new EP, he doubles down and continues his interesting sonic evolution as an artiste.
Kemuel doesn’t beat around the bush in setting the mood and asks for forever from his lover, right from the jump on Seki. The percussion deplored here is minimal but it’s groovy with personality and really comes alive in the chorus, like back up singers responding to his vocals. His energy on the song is as carefree as his attitude—in asking his lover to be his forever on an impulse.
Osei Baby carries on with the same production template but features exotic guitar riffs in place of warm piano notes. Minimal choral vocals simmer underneath, as Kemuel sings about a coquettish woman intent on giving him the most exhilarating night of his life without attaching strings. Close 2 U heads deep into House territory, with the intermittent claps, sparse log drums and three-step kicks. Kemuel still seems high on good loving from his woman and is reeling from the memories he doesn’t want to let go.
YOLO is the spiritual sequel to Close 2 U sonically, except it strips away layers of the production for a more minimalist beat replete with pulsating electric piano keys. The title is self explanatory and Kemuel sings about making the most out of life and living in the moment. This is arguably the best song on the album and deserves a shot in the spotlight.
FINI heads into deep cultural territory, with the clashing of gongs for beat patterns and subtle rattles for shakers. Kemuel pulls off his most dynamic delivery on the album with some interesting vocal inflections and lamba allegories, while recounting a raunchy encounter with his woman. Wound Me feels like old school Nigerian 2000s R&B with nostalgic classical strings and song structure. It’s one of the weaker songs on the album, but it’s a love letter to the past that mostly works.
Pitakwa Girls Riddim is a decent pop song, but unlike most songs on this EP—it has nothing unique going on sonically on a production level, so it does feel like filler. The pristine texture of Kemuel’s vocals return on Spirit, after he ditched it for the indigenous-leaning records preceding the track. It has faint traces of the House heartbeat that defined the first half of the EP but has much more soul going for it. It’s a solid closer to the EP and ends it on the same high note it started out on.
Kemuel takes another bold swing on his sophomore project and excels in crafting another unique sonic experience that delivers great, accessible music with personality. With this sort of talent, there’s almost no limit to what he can do. And it can definitely only get better from here on out.
Final Verdict:
Sonic Cohesion: 1.7/2
Expansive Production: 1.5/2
Songwriting: 1.6/2
Delivery: 1.7/2
Track Sequencing: 1.6/2
Total: 8.1/10
