Street pop is a variant of Afrobeats synonymous with high productivity. Virtually every successful artist affiliated with the street is a very prolific one. Seyi Vibez lead the pack when it comes to consistency of churning out new projects.
Seyi made a splash during his 2022 ascension into mainstream relevance, with a very distinct brand of music that didn’t align with the mainstream pop sound that was made popular by fellow street and breakout artist of said year, Asake. His production might have been the same staple of Amapiano fusion, but the way Seyi attacked the beats with haphazard, yet rhythmic flows made him uniqueβand his style derivative of Apala, more than traditional melodic rapping cadences.
However, this made his music an acquired taste and limited his audience whilst Asake was more accessible. With time, more and more people have gotten into his music as he was the most streamed NG artist last year, but one can’t discount the factor of his numerous project releases under the year of review in attaining that. Whilst his debut album, ‘Billion Dollar Baby 2.0 remains his best project yet as it displays his most creative exhibition of apala and pop fusion, it’s not exactly his most accessible body of work.
Seyi has been experimenting since then to find that middle ground and sweet little spot that would make his music, agreeable enough to unlock new uncharted territories of stadrom, whilst not compromising on his artistry. However, since then it has been an onslaught of mediocre to underwhelming EPs from NAHAMciaga to Loseyi Professor and Children Of Africa doesn’t seem to be any different.
Mario Kart opens the album with a pulsating, melodic uptempo production courtesy of Semzi, who has been on an impressive streak since the Olamide co-sign on Ikigai. This is not a bad song, but Seyi deplores his all-too familiar flows and hardly ever gets dynamic. This is also a good time to point out the fact that the crowd vocals on this EP aren’t executed well.
The point of background vocals is to add extra soul to the production and it’s only soulful, when voices of differing notes and pitches are elegantly layered on each other to produce beautiful harmonies. Seyi mostly uses the same vocal pitch on his crowd vocals and just splinters them into various volumes. Macho ft. NLE Choppa has a very aggressive bounce and log drums infusion, that’s becoming a dated formular at this point. Thankfully, NLE Choppa’s presence is justified and he brings some much needed dynamism to a rather forgettable performance by Seyi.
Shaolin is undoubtedly the best song on this EP and delivery wise, might be Seyi’s best song ever. The beat is very minimalist, asides intermittent punches and an Asian flute whistling in the background. Whether intentionally or not, Seyi has always struggled to stay on beat whenever he deplores his aggressive Apala flows, but not here. He brilliantly straddles the line between a rhythmic flow and one that threatens to burst through the seamsβleaving his indelible mark on it.
Happy Song is a nothing song, with some emotive production and much better arranged crowd vocals than the EP opener, but still very much sub-par for an artist of Seyi’s status. The production would do it for most, but this writer would only listen to this song, passively. It’s background music at its best.
Seyi Vibez’s Children Of Africa might be a slight improvement on his last EP, Loseyi Professor but it’s not significant enough to herald a new exciting phase for the artist. There are enough flashes of brilliance to justify a listen though and reasonable enjoyment for his fans.
Final Verdict:
Sonic Cohesion & Transitions: 1.4/2
Expansive Production: 1.2/2
Songwriting: 1.2/2
Delivery: 1.1/2
Optimal Track Sequencing: 1.4/2
Total: 6.3/10
