wizkid • made in lagos (2020)

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