After a dormant January and a somewhat memorable February, with sparsely populated major releases—March finally came along to wrap up business for the first quarter of the year and it did so with some memorable moments and great music. Here is our top 5 projects of the year.
1. Blown Boy Ru – Ruger
Barely two years after dropping his debut album and a year after his collaborative project with rival turned ally, Ruger once again returns to our ears with his sophomore project. His debut album, Ru The World, a masterclass display in Dancehall and Afrobeats fusion was a victim of bad timing that impaired its success so it’s no mystery why his sophomore arrives much earlier this year.
Blown Boy Ru doubles down on all the elements that made its predecessor great. Afro-Swing beats, melodic rapping cadences, soulful R&B cuts and you have the making of another good Ruger outing. While this writer feels this new project pales in comparison to its predecessor, there is no mistaking its undeniable quality nonetheless and the fact that it’s a Ruger’s project through and through.
2. Viva La Vida – Joeboy
Joeboy was amongst the first wave of new generation artists, that the new decade ushered in. In 5 years, he has established himself as one of the foremost love crooners in his set and released two great albums to that tune. His 2021 album was more pop-leaning, with mid-tempo influences whilst his sophomore project was R&B centric and much more intimate. On his third studio album, he recognizes the need to evolve and rightly so.
Viva La Vida is unapologetically pop in ways, no Joeboy album has ever been. From the Nollywood dated chords of SMH to the visceral drums of Innocent and the Brazilian Funk Fusion of Free Of Charge, this is an album intended to get you in the groove. Whilst some of Joeboy’s earnest and heartfelt songwriting gets lost in transition, his experimentation on this album delivers good results.
3. Velvet – Ejoya
After skipping their year-end tradition of releasing a collaborative tape in 2024, Ejoya returned with two new EPs in March. The Hip-Hop centric, Flow State and the R&B leaning, Velvet which makes our list for the month. Both projects are good, but Velvet is much more cohesive—finding a middle ground for all the featured artists to flourish and retain the core elements of their artistry—while being dynamic also.
4. Love & Hustle –Bayanni
In a generation that was churning out R&B fusion artist, after R&B fusion artist for popstars—Bayanni surfaced three years ago with the sort of pop cadences and lamba mastery that separated him from the crop as an unapologetic pop singer. His self-titled EP played to these strenghts and was very much uptempo and groovy. With Love & Hustle, he dials the tempo down a notch and flirts with R&B fusion.
Princess Treatment is the heartfelt, soulful track with the sort of witty yearning that will get you in your feels. Goddess taps into Dancehall frequencies and Ruger fits in like a glove, proving why he’s the country’s foremost artist on the soundscape and other notable features from Don Jazzy and Zerrydl ensure the project is stacked with dynamism and there isn’t a singularly dull moment on it.
5. 131 (EP) – Kojo Blak
On his sophomore project, Kojo Blak is a chameleon of various sonic soundscapes, morphing into whatever is required for the record. He favors swing beats and trap synths on the Afro-pop project, utilizing a range of flows that straddles garage and Dancehall music. There are impressive deviations like highlife indented Excellent, where he deplores AV-esque flows and the techno house leaning ‘S.O.H.’ Guest appearances from the likes of Kelvyn boy, Joshua Baraka and Sarkodie populate the album.
