On his Sophomore EP, Pheelz excels at creating a unique sonic identity for himself, a feat he didn’t exactly accomplish on the EP’s predecessor and which is the major driving force of his successful transition from veteran producer to newly minted popstar.
It can be quite hard to execute seamless transitions in the music industry, or any entertainment space at all. Why? Because the general audience and mass media love to build their own personal perceptions formed from the presentation of an individual’s brand and the summation of their actions. Even if it wasn’t explicitly stated or laid out, people love to draw their own inferences to form their own perceptions that they cling on to for various reasons.
Some people take it a step further, when they can find certain relatable sentiments in an artist’s brand and that makes them root for said artist even harder. It’s for these reasons that transitions are difficult, especially for successful artists. The more successful you are, the more you’ve dominated and become synonymous with a narrative or brand and the harder it is to transition into something different.
There would always be the tendency of the general audience not taking you too seriously in the new phase, because it already betrays their initial perception they’ve come around to love and root for over the years. For Pheelz, it’s the fact that he’s established a legacy as one of the greatest contemporary Afrobeats producers, one who has major production credits of multiple classic albums under his belt. He is an icon that many aspiring producers and even budding ones look up to and so for him to decide to make that transition to a popstar, he needed to back that up with good music or else it was never gonna take off.
That was the main reason why his first EP, Hear Me Out couldn’t herald the transition. Indeed, there is also the fact that the rollout and branding of Pheelz Good was infinitely better, but the music on the initial EP wasn’t as great. It was good music, but there was nothing unique or disruptive about it to make people take his pop persona too seriously, and so it remained in the shadow of his producer brand. Until Finesse happened.
Of course, Finesse isn’t the greatest Afro-Pop song of recent times or anything close to that. But it was so big in personality and identity, that it could have only been Pheelz to make the record that way. It had very minimalistic production, but it’s chorus was the most catchy thing ever and what fueled it blowing up on TikTok. Pheelz and BNXN also had impressive verses and overall, it was a competent pop song. It was at this point the transition kicked into gear.
The follow-up single, Electricity ft. Davido featured more lush and immersive production, courtesy of P.Prime and TMXO. Davido, a serial hitmaker was featured and he delivered the goods of memorable one-liners and a sing-along esque flow. In the visuals of the song, Pheelz also embraced his origins as a producer—as the stepping stone in his advancement—in several shots where he’s playing the keyboard. The merging of the past and the present proved pivotal in accelerating the transition.
On Ballin, EP opener, Pheelz throws shades to the haters and detractors who doubted his come up, singing that “he’s balling on them.” From the onset, it’s clear that his greatest strength as an artist is his pen-game and he uses that to the best of his abilities, clearly elucidating that his success is so immense to the point that he doubts himself. The beat has an Afro-swing arrangement, suffused with recurring surges of rumbling electric synths. His flow on the second verse reminds the listener that he’s no amateur artist, even if the world just started to take him serious on that front.
Stand By You is one of the finer Afro-R&B records of the year so far. “So many lies, but you’re the truth” he sings, flexing the depth of his pen-game once again. There are soulful vocal chops interpolated in the beat, that makes it pleasant like undercurrents of a soothing ocean. The beat doesn’t have much going for it, but the way the vocals are stacked against each other shows the mastery of music at play. Many artists might find it difficult to replicate such refined sound, but it’s light work for a veteran producer turned singer.
Pheelz Like Summer is another infectious, heartfelt RnB cut on the EP, except it’s more up-tempo and has a celebratory sentiment of lover in contrast with the more confessional topic on Stand By You. The production here is permeated with some rousing jazz horns that elevate the atmosphere and adlibs that make for a nostalgic feel. It’s the ideal record to have belting out loud at the beach, whilst the warm sun caresses your skin and the cold breeze engulfs you.
Pablo Escobar has Pheelz in his self reflective bag, recounting obstacles on the come up in contrast to the gravity of his current status. The sentiment here is quite similar to the one on Ballin, except where he’s spitting at the face of his detractors on the opener, on Pablo Escobar he’s simply bigging himself up and acknowledging the fact that his doubters have been converted and now fully believe in his vision and music.
Emi Laye Mi and Ewele are both tailor made for the dance floor. Except the former is more suited for celebratory social functions, involving dignitaries where awards are being presented, whilst the former would appropriately soundtrack Owambe parties and set the stage for the elders as they dance and give thanks to God for realizing the ultimate dream of marrying their children off in expensive, highbrow fashion. They both have visceral drums in their production that make them sound inherently more African than the other songs on the EP and perhaps make them appeal to an even older demographic.
In this current age of market saturation in the music industry, it’s not enough for artists to make good music. They also have to find a way to incorporate parts of themselves, so that the music is distinguished and stands out at as theirs amongst their peers. Pheelz achieves that on Pheelz Good, establishing a great foundation for himself as a popstar that he can only build on with time.
Final Verdict:
Sonic Cohesion: 1.6/2
Unharried Transitions: 1.3/2
Expansive Production: 1.4/2
Songwriting: 1.7/2
Optimal Track Sequencing: 1.5/2
Total: 7.5/10
–This review is written by T.J. Martins, an ‘Album Talks writer.
