'Erection' has gaps, but Rayce is not rusty [EP Review]
The EP has 7 songs.
You might remember Rayce, he's the crooner who gave us the single, 'Roll' in 2012. In 2014, he had another sleeper hit in 'Jack Sparrow,' a song about sex and other intimate actions.
To many, he left after that, but he never did. In 2016, he released 'Wetin Dey' which had a remix with Davido. He kept hustling, but it didn't quite happen for him. Now, he's back with new 7-track EP interestingly titled, Erection. Like you might have thought, it's mostly a diary of sex and love.
The first track is 'Awake,' a lo-fi afrobeats vibe with an infectious yet generic bop. Rayce is a needy man who needs a certain faceless woman close to him. After touching her, his soul wants more and the balance of this song makes it the best on Erection.
'Erection,' the title-track with afrobeat that seems cut from the cloth of Wizkid's 'Sweet Love,' but without the guitar chords that punctuate the start of 'Sweet Love.' With a mixture of admiration and longing, Rayce lusts after the woman's body. He sings, "Your body giving me erection..." A very patchy part is the '-tion' rhymes on the first verse.
You know when different genres collide into one song, that's the boat on which 'Like You' sails. The beat is a blend of galala, trumpets of a mariachi band and afrobeats. The sound is cut off what K-Solo and Terry G served us with in the 2000's. Topically, Rayce stays through and keeps telling the woman to "Set the booty..." Well Rayce, you're a freak, G - a picky freak. Are you aiming to run in?
'Feelings' comes next on a dancehall beat that seems cut from the late 90's. This seems suited to a club, but it cries for a feature from a Peruzzi, Burna Boy, Yung L or Prettyboy D-O. To this writer, this one feels like a single. So far, the production on this EP has been top notch.
What is a Nigerian album without telling a woman to 'Rotate'? Well, at least Rayce shortens his to 'Rotay.' The titling and the flow is kind of old for the current Nigerian soundscape -the beat is too fast and its content is just not it. Oh, those guitar chords are really good on a beat that feels suited more to Francophone Africa.
That said, Wande Coal can singlehandedly bring the song back to Nigeria. 'Human' sounds like a wedding song. Its beat also seems like a faster version of 'True' by Mayorkun and Kizz Daniel. It's not bad, but the profession of love isn't bad. That said, its striking similarities to 'True' might hamper it. However, it sounds like a good single.
'Jah' is a good song, but it's a style that has consistently failed men unless they feature female songbirds. It's an engineered club sound cut from the Lagos owambe scene. But lyrically, it's a step away from what we've experienced so far - sex and lust.
In a way, it seems a departure. But at its best, it's diversification. However, on an album titled, Erection, a topic about how the grace of God seems out of place.
Final thoughts
Erection is a good album with better content that most of the nonsense we get in Nigerian music these days - Rayce should be proud of his songwriting. That said, his songwriting did dwell excessively on expletives and adlibs sometimes.
To the average listener, this is all 'afrobeats,' but that will be half of the truth. This EP also succeeds in making different kinds of afrobeats from different eras for commendable production.
That diversification is welcome, but one problem with the EP is the striking similarities of some songs to popular songs. Either it's intentional or not, that might affect reception of these songs with the audience.
Nonetheless, there is only a few things that a heavy push can't fix. If Rayce heavily pushes the music, you never know. But without it, this EP will struggle to generate a genuine hit on its own. The songs are definitely good, but Rayce failed to employ features at necessary times both for publicity and to heighten the quality of some of those songs.
Those instances are highlighted above. On the quality and basic enjoyability of these songs, the A&R on Erection is good. It only fails to take the project from B to A when it could have.
Overall, Erection is still a good listen.
Ratings: /10
• 0-1.9: Flop
• 2.0-3.9: Near fall
• 4.0-5.9: Average
• 6.0-7.9: Victory
• 8.0-10: Champion
Verdict:
6.1/10 - Victory
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