Asides the iconic class of ’10 that have mantained their longevity at the top for over a decade, Kizz Daniel is the only other popstar not from that generation that can also lay claim to such feat.
It’s been over a decade now, since Woju was blasting from every corner store and apartment building in the country. It was one of those breakout songs that was so massive, that the superstar it brought through could only go ahead to have an all-timer career, due to its resounding success or be a one-hit wonder, as a result of the sheer difficulty of replicating such feat. Fortunately for Kizz, the former is the case and over the course of a decade, 4 albums and three EPs—he’s cemented his legacy as an all-time great. His talent has never really been called into question, except, in recent times.
In the wake of releasing his third studio album, King Of Love, a stellar effort that definitely deserved more success than it got—Kizz dropped the Barnabas EP more than a year later in 2021. It was a smashing success that dwarfed the reception of KOL and for understandable reasons. Why KOL remained the more refined, polished and sophisticated pop album, Barnabas was much more resonant and sacrificed depth for resonance, through an artistic medium that was crass in its presentation. Bottom line, Barnabas was lamba in its purest form and while it did have compelling moments and wasn’t exactly bland, Kizz noted the success and continued to tow that same line for the next two years.
In the following year, he would release Buga ft. Tekno which is arguably the one song that’s probably eclipsed the popularity of his debut single (a case could be made for Mama too) and the song is built on an even more dumbed down, sonic mainstream formular to the point that it lost all its nuance. But nobody cared much, because it’s “gbedu” and it made everyone groove. Until more abysmal records like Cough followed and although it went viral too, people began to ascribe the tag of “civil servant music” to Kizz Daniel at some point in 2023. By the time we got to Shu-Peru the general public had finally had enough and didn’t reward the song with the same success its predecessors had seen.
The music got so abruptly better after that that it only made sense that Kizz was riding a momentum and hadn’t actually lost the ability to make great music. And now we’re here again with a brand new EP and spin-off of his upcoming fifth album, Uncle K which is subtitled Lemon Chase. If this EP is a sign of things to come, then we’re in for a treat because this is the most inspired and reinvigorated we’ve heard Kizz sound in years.
“Make I be your Joseph, knack you like carpenter” Kizz sings on EP opener, Black Girl Magic proving that he can still merge those witty-one liners into competent writing, over an animated pop beat. The production doesn’t fall victim to Amapiano fusion craze but it has those rattle claps nonetheless that gives it personality. Titi ft. FOLA follows a more conventional Afro-Pop bounce but with a nostalgic melody that bares an uncanny semblance to Edna Ogholi’s Happy Birthday classic and my word, FOLA rises to the occasion and absolutely steals the show. What a run he’s been on in the past couple of months and deservedly so.
Kizz Daniel has had records like Secure in the past with up-tempo rhythms and visceral African percussion like Yeba and even the more recent smash hit, Twe Twe and he’s definitely mastered the fine art of letting the beat breathe while also giving it enough to do with catchy one-liners and infusing his delivery with slang lingua to make it stick. Al-Jannah, like the title implies, is a spiritual song that celebrates the gift of life, while also casting the utmost focus of the relevance of our journey on earth in the climax our eventual destination. ODUMODUBLVCK and Bella deliver personal verses on grief, loss and powering through it all. Kizz is content with handling the chorus.
The tempo gets dialed down a notch on Peace I Chose and it heads into emotive R&B territory. Kizz sings about prioritizing his sanity, over the shenanigans of a relationship despite the woman’s sexual antics wielding a strong power on him. Runtown doesn’t elevate this record, the way FOLA does on TITI but his presence is understandable, as the song’s sonic template is tailor made for him. Eyo sounds derivative of the bounce on Asake’s Uhh Yeah and while it is a good song, the production lacks the bite and depth of Sarz’ ingenuity and Kizz doesn’t necessarily attack the song with the same level of dexterity Asake did.
A Kizz Daniel, Johnny Drille and Angélique Kidjo collaboration has no business working the way it did on Police. It sounds very odd on paper and for good reason. Kizz is the quintessential mainstream Afro-pop star, Johnny is on the more soulful, non-mainstream side of R&B music and Kidjo’s music is intrinsically native and cultural, but they all manage to find a middle ground on this beautiful song celebrating love in its purest form. Hats off to the artiste and the A&R too.
It’s right there on the cover art of Lemon Chase and the title too, that this EP is an Uncle K project, and if it’s the more likely scenario of offering a glimpse into the future and priming the audience for a new exciting era, then Kizz has definitely excelled at this and we’re all sat for his next era because this sounds very promising. This EP is easily one of the best projects that has come out of 2025 so far.
Final Verdict:
Sonic Cohesion & Transitions: 1.5/2
Expansive Production: 1.6/2
Songwriting: 1.5/2
Delivery: 1.5/2
Track Sequencing: 1.6/2
Total: 7.7/10
