wizkid • made in lagos (2020)

great use of *that* Loleatta Holloway sample in “Essence”

Coming back to the first songs:
The percussion and bass in Reckless make for a splendid arrangement underneath his flow, it's very subtle and organic, the tropical flourishes are almost distracting from it.
Ginger feels incomplete and it's so strange to have featured Burna Boy on the chorus and Wizkid on the verse rather than the rather obvious opposite.
Wizkid's on his near-best on the second part of Longtime. Those percussions are so right again.
I don't get Blessed more than I get Mighty Wine, tedious song.

album is flat incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMIlZFNX5Qc

interviewer doesn't really ask the most probing questions but wizkid comes off as very likable in this video and there is some interesting insight about each song

hearing the songs in this context actually gave me a real appreciation for "ginger" and "longtime" ... "ginger" in particular. this album is really about the final 2/3 for me but that song is pretty great

I enjoyed that interview.

the super collaborativeness of “True Love” makes more sense now: it came about in a session for a Juls project, but Wizkid liked it so much that he pleaded with Juls to give the track to him.

Interesting--though that makes it even weirder that only Wizkid is credited (on streaming)

I put this aside for a little while and right now it really does sound incredible. I'm at the phase of noticing the details deeper in the mix, and the opening third benefits quite a bit from it, e.g., I too like "Ginger"

that’s been corrected - in stages: Tay Iwar first, and as of yesterday (?) Projexx is tagged as well

xp

Oh good!

Justice for Tems too I see. Good news, that was def a sour note

yeah, that was really sloppy, given that the artwork is crystal clear about it:

https://theinsyder.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/wizkid-made-in-lagos-tracklist-tgj-600x600-1.jpeg

i love this.

roma feat. terri is so good.

so this went out live last night on YouTube, as I discovered after the fact. have yet to watch it, but everybody seems to be raving about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9knXaWFC-FQ

”a three-hour live-stream starring WizKid culminating in a full-on, live interactive performance”

that live performance is the last hour of the stream, it starts at 2h19

that set is **lush** as fuck

skip the first two hours and enjoy
(the vibes start at 2h01, not 2h19!)

tracklist:
2h01 intro
2h03 Smile
2h06 Jam
2h08 Mighty Wine
2h11 Grace
2h15 Blessed
2h18 Energy (Stay Far Away) with Skepta)
2h20 Longtime (with Skepta)
2h23 True Love
2h26 Naughty Ride
2h29 Gyrate
2h31 Piece Of Me
2h33 Joro
2h37 Soco
2h38 Ghetto Love
2h40 Ojuelegba
2h44 Ginger
2h47 Reckless
2h51 Come Closer
2h54 No Stress

The Guardian is the first publication (AFAIK) that has Made In Lagos on its EOY list. They have it way too low obviously, but the write-up is pretty apt:

43. Wizkid – Made in Lagos
Nigerian pop continued to establish itself more firmly on the international stage in 2020 with successful albums by Burna Boy, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tems and more. The best of them all was this lilting, versatile record by Wizkid. Guest stars from across the Black Atlantic – Skepta and Ella Mai from the UK, HER from the US, Damian Marley and Projexx from Jamaica – create the sense of a diasporic dialogue, where reggae, dancehall, rap and Afro-swing seamlessly and sensually intertwine.

may just be very stoned but there's some three dimensional sound design going on here

also i fucking love this album

the sound design is indeed incredible and sooo lush

Brad, ufo, others, did you watch the YouTube concert I posted two weeks ago? it’s such a vibe and yes, lush.

i only watched some of it but what i did watch was great. even the weaker tracks on the album like "mighty wine" came across even better live

Could we perhaps try to agree on one or two Wiz tunes for the EOY 77? I fear vote splitting might become an issue with this album. So many good songs.

def voting for this album, but my wizkid song will likely be dj tunez' "cool me down"

sorry longneck, i know wizkid would want us all to come together

will def vote for “No Stress”, and probably also for either “Cool Me Down” or “Pami” (torn between those non-identical twin songs). “True Love” also one of my fave songs of the year, but three Wizzy tracks is probably too much.

three Wizzy tracks is never too much obv, but *voting for three* probably is

I can get behind No Stress but I'm not sure it is the best song on the album.

it’s def its best single tho

not sure why we’re even discussing vot(esplitt)ing when we haven’t even done the nominations yet. not sure I’m a fan of this pre-poll/pre-nom thing.

A Wizkid special from Nigerian music mag The Native:

https://thenativemag.com/cover-story/wizmag

I watched the YouTube concert the other night, and it was awesome. Plus I don't think there's a minute of this album I don't love now

I can understand the love for this record, but after repeated listens over the past few months, I've found that it's just not for me. There's no dynamics? It's so slick that it just passes by like nothing happened, not a single track stands out for me. That would be fine if this was ambient music, maybe, but this is supposed to be pop, and I find it completely unremarkable.

duly noted

ride on time: video for "Essence" with Tems:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jipQpjUA_o8

.@wizkidayo’s “Essence” (ft. Tems) has debuted at #25 on Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart! 🤯🔥

This is Starboy’s fifth entry on the chart, extending his record as the African artist with the most entries here — his second as lead. #MADEINLAGOS baby!!!! 🥳🎉🥳🎊 pic.twitter.com/fypElEm4g1

— MIL - OUT NOW 🌍 (@WizkidSource) June 4, 2021

also here’s the first Wizkid sighting of the year, from Lojay’s fantastic new EP with Sarz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IEaUhIuCs
Lojay & Sarz ft. Wizkid • LV N ATTN

Lojay’s reaction on first hearing Wizzy’s feature on his track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqW37gmxJoU

Nice to see Essence lasting this long. A true highlight on a great, great album.

apple music has some sort master version of this up now, they need to continue to develop new technologies so i can continue hear this record in better fashion over time

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ_oCO-CSam/?utm_medium=copy_link

North American tour dates

got my new york tickets a few weeks ago B-)

"essence" has climbed into the top 20 on apple music, think it may have a shot at the hot 100

song of the summer (this year, last year, every year)

tickets for the Toronto show sold out in minutes, i coulda gotten a ticket but waffled for like literally 5 seconds and it was gone :(

Joey Akan taking stock of “Afrobeats to the World” on the occasion of “Essence” becoming the first Afropop song ever to crack the Billboard Hot 100:

link - hope it works

Tems' hook on "Essence" is also crucial, and *I predict "you don't need no other body" will be the bit from this album most stuck in my head in days to come*.

ha! Essence did persist as my favorite from the album

And it is pretty wild how much this blew up. That Akan piece is interesting, though kinda thinly sourced in terms of explaining the song's crossover—not that I'm saying he's wrong, I don't really know what influencers are up to lol

Regular price tix for the 2 dc area shows sold out quick. Venue and live nation just listing resale price ones for 3 times the original price :(

same here in Toronto :(

London date just announced

the songwriting here def isn't as immediate... even putting "essence" aside there isn't anything as instantly memorable as "true love," "no stress" or "mood." but we're talking about one of the best albums released in the last 10-20 years so i'm not tripping off him being able to hit those same heights again. a lot of this sounded pretty great to me... the skillibeng & shenseea track was actually my fav the first few times thru. i think it gets better towards the end actually which is always nice. the way they bend don tolliver's parts at points to where it almost sounds like a sample is nifty, and "frames" is a wonderful closer.

i like that he stuck really close to the sound of made in lagos... aside from just being perhaps the ideal form for music period i do think that they show here there was a bit more for them to explore texturally, whether it's the itchiness of "bad for me" or folding some amapiano in, the guitar line on "special" which feels like a nod to fela-era afrobeat

Team Wizzy going straight for the Essence 2 (Sugar) jugular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_oenl2Be-w

(no, the songs aren’t all that similar, but the concept is)

I agree that MiL is probably the better album with the stronger songs. There is also the sense that MiL sounded right for its covid stricken time - it was an indoor album, whereas the anthemic wave we're seeing now is all about release and the urge to go out. Buuuut... Wizkid makes it all sound so effortless anyway. Like MiL, this is an album you can live with and live in.

This is a lot more... dense. So far I kinda miss the open air spaces of MiL, but it has its own grooves.

think Wizkid might be doing a live thing on Apple Music right now:

We are live https://t.co/5hYhlW3WcX 🖤

— Wizkid (@wizkidayo) November 14, 2022

(I don’t have AM, so please tell me how it was later!

believe it’s the recording of the concert he played in london a few weeks back

i think this one is about equal honestly, i really love the amapiano-lite sound, it's probably more consistent overall but made in lagos had higher highs?

first impression: vibes and sound design are immaculate once again but made in lagos maybe had stronger songs?

the highs on this will probably grow on me, but the important thing is that he’s created another sonic world that i love swimming in

extremely otm

dj hyping up the crowd for the Wizkid show with hardcore piano ✅

DJ Tunez on stage ✅

okay, so now we have Eugy 💹

welcome, Pheelz ❇️

move over for L.A.X 🈯️

hey, Idaly repping for the NL 🔰

Wiz made it ♻️♻️♻️

this is a perfect fit for summer

i like how direct and snappy-feeling this is, gets in, bangs, gets out

as you may have inferred, I saw the man live last week. like Burna earlier this year, he sold out the biggest indoor (17,000-capacity) venue in Amsterdam.
it was a good-to-great show, quite different from what I expected. not some kind of MiL/MLLE suite at all, but a rough and tumble rollercoaster ride through his oeuvre, with pyrotechnics and stuff.
he covered most bases, there were unexpected inclusions: “In My Bed”, “Daddy Yo”, “Azonto” (yes!), and some surprising omissions (“Manya” for one). highlight was a blistering rendition of “Show You The Money”.
off the new album he only did “Money & Love”, “Bad To Me”, “2 Sugar”, and (surprisingly) “Flower Pads”, off Made in Lagos it was just “Ginger”, “Mood” and “Essence” (no “True Love” unfortunately). those he played with his band, the old hits were soundtracked by DJ Tunez. “Slow Down” (the R2bees slow jam) and “The Matter” (with Maleek Berry) are possibly his favourite oldies, he did both twice - and all through this he was in very fine voice.

all in all tho, I have to say I found him less… generous than the first time I saw him, in 2016. not just because the set was only slightly over an hour this time, also because he was less outgoing, just generic interaction with the crowd and no interaction with his band at all.

Thanks for that report, bc! He's playing in Montreal this spring at a big venue but tickets are surprisingly cheap (or at least the cheapest tier isn't bad), so I was considering it even though I haven't been to a show like this...ever really.

just do it, rob, it will be fun! the vibe will be great, no matter what, and you’ll get to catch Wizzy live. it just might be the best show he’ll ever give!

I’m really loving the album btw. after a slight lull I’m fully on board with it again now. the initial rush was very much sound palette-centered, but now it’s more about individual songs that are making cases for themselves. my new favourites are “Deep” (the only track I hadn’t saved after the first pass lol), “Flower Pads” and especially “Frames (Who’s Gonna Now)”, which is the real gem here imo. if we’re talking about songwriting, I feel that’s a song people will be wanting to cover (or interpolate or whatever). it has a pretty unique structure too, with the way the main elements meander through the song.

yeah last time I listened I was struck by how well it ends, opening up a bit on the way out