'Blackmagic Version 3.0 (Starving Artist),' by Blackmagic is a good abum that requires patience [Album Review]
Aided by slow-burn, progressively brilliant production that touches several genres, Blackmagic 3.0 is an amazing experience on the growth and struggles of a creative who is dealing with pressure, vanity, doubt, masculinity and relationship issues.
In contemporary times, the Nigerian soundscape has witnessed avant-garde artistry from a number of creatives. Being known by one genre is no longer enough, the true test of artistry has become versatility, experimentation and expansive pallets.
In 2008, Nigerian icon, 9ice released Gongo Aso. The album was a built on heavy Hip-Hop influences. 9ice was basically sung-rapping with deep metaphors, bars and flow scheme, but he was so good that we thought he was just singing - he wasn't. A little before then, D'Banj was the guy breaking the rules and testing the rules of his artistry.
The turn of the last decade saw a change of guard in Nigerian pop. Wizkid, Olamide, Davido and Burna Boy have since become legends. However, in the shadows of that evolution were acts like DRB (later its Lasgidi offshoot), BlackMagic, Show Dem Camp and so forth - BlackMagic did release a project in 2006 though.
Their brand of music was defined by unique production and resonant topical conversations enshrined in time-sensitive stories. All in all, they grew into what could now be defined as avant-garde.
They were different and the younger millennials were either in or about to graduate University and face real life. These artists were a mirror for what we were going through. We could relate to them and their music found a home. Although alte was going to peak about five to 6 years after 2010, Blackmagic is now looked upon as the first major alte act.
While BlackMagic does not necessarily identify with that crowd, his avant-garde brand of music feels cut from that crowd. After a quiet period, BlackMagic returns with BlackMagic 3.0 (Starving Artist) - the third installment in his eponymous chronology. The album is laced with R&B, palmwine music, synth-pop and trap sounds.
Mostly, the album is delivered in Hip-Hop fashion. Sometimes, Blackmagic sings in his signature baritone vocals that the ladies have come to love. Topically, it is mostly a diary of growth and struggles of a creative who is dealing with pressure, vanity, doubt, masculinity and relationship issues. Sometimes, Blackmagic gleans socio-political chatter.
When you see the album title and listen to the album, you realize that 'Starving Artist' is mostly a mismatch. 'Starving Artist' gives off an impression that the album will be heavily branded in introspect, growth and struggles. We only caught any remote whiff of what follows 'Starving artist' on the final three songs.
On the quality of the album itself, BlackMagic will forever be judged by the quality of the two previous BlackMagic projects. It is unfair to judge an artist by his former projects as artists are in different headspaces for different albums, but we cannot escape that reality. When your music is very niche, your fans are loyal and intimate. They have a standard and they hold you to it.
Since BlackMagic Version 3.0 dropped, reception has been lukewarm to very critical - that is understandable. Blackmagic selected a worrying number of lukewarm songs to open an eagerly anticipated album - that's risky. Make no mistake, those songs are by no means terrible. They just lack the shock value that truly resonant songs have.
The palmwine music of 'Soon' featuring Tems and the afrobeat of 'Koole' failed to match the excitement of the average fan who rushed to click play on Blackmagic Version 3.0. That's mostly down to the kind of beats that they are. 'Koole' could have done with a more resonant hook, but its an impressive rap performance by Blackmagic.
Laced in copious introspect and aspiration-based quotables, BlackMagic also took some shots at his ex - woosh. Nonetheless, as whole songs, the first two songs miss the mark. 'Anything For Love' will have its fans, but it's a song that lacks a vim. The psychedelic riffs of 'Ponmo' is the first time Blackmagic Version 3.0 effectively excites with its vindictive themes of hyper-masculine defiance.
For most of the first five tracks, a listener will be forgiven for questioning his experience. But then, the cynical response can also be down to expectations that have built up and those are never fair on the artist. For example on Blackmagic Version 3.0, life creeps in around the fifth track and the album never looks back.
Although Blackmagic could have scored a hit with the R&B/Synth-Pop, sex-driven tune, 'Bad Intentions' in 2009 Caribbean, it slightly crashes the excitement that 'Ponmo' built. But then, the album picks up.
'No Need' is the lead single that Blackmagic performed at Lemon Curd in 2018. It is a piano-based, melodious R&B ballad. Blackmagic doses us on nostalgia and lyrical gems like, "Not every love story is a romance.. Don't f*** your guys unless you gay and that's alright...." He reminisces a bad break-up, but the song then becomes lyrically abstract and scatterbrained.
'Ego' is the trap commentary on the relation between women and love. 'Dreams,' which this writer thinks should have been the opening track is an emo trap record that Drake would be proud of. On it, Blackmagic pinpoints the importance of hardwork to achieve dreams. 'Ordinary Man' is an R&B-based rap record from the mid-2000s.
Lyrically, it's an impressive record that finds sense even when it falters. Blackmagic uses the symbolism of flights and flights to discuss how ordinary people can go up and down at the thing they love. In the end, he just wants to live his life and be good with it - such a substantiated record.
'I Do' is the impressive socio-political chatter on vanity, dreams and transactional relationships. The first verse envisions those themes from how vanity destroys relationships and dreams. The second verse is about the impact of lack of self-control on dreams. The beat is a fusion of sentimental ballad and afrobeat of the Fela kind.
On balance and quality, 'I Do' is by far the best song on Blackmagic 3.0. 'Strong Arm' is based off alternative production and it addresses mental health and the disadvantages of toxic masculinity. Subtly, Blackmagic then nudges men to embrace their 'feminine side.' It's also the first track that remotely relates to the album's subtitle, 'Starving artist.'
More importantly, Blackmagic addresses the deterioration of his mental health. "I don reason suicide...," he raps. 'Blue' feels like a Kid Cudi song. On it, Blackmagic uses colours to describe his life. 'Blue' seems a code for his mood - downcast and depressed - while his eyes are red - hungry. To medicate and deal with things, he burns 'greens' as his hair turns grey and he gets older.
He also uses 'china white' plates to symbolize hunger. In essence, the song is a symbolic diary of experiences in the artist's life as he ages. But sadly, Blackmagic's character on the song is pessimistic - he sees no way out of the ditch. This is an amazing use of poetic symbolism - impressive songwriting!
'Everything' is a woozy, cloudy unique piece of music production. While Blackmagic's pessimism is still apparent with, "Someday, we go tire...," he sings an ode to a faceless woman in an alcohol-inspired haze. As the song closes out, the artist unfurls a load vote of thanks on his loved from a la J. Cole on 'Note To Self.'
Final thoughts
Understandably, the first part few songs on this album are pop-based, but that arrangement set a bad precedent for this album. As noted earlier, in a world where Blackmagic's predominant target market has a ridiculous attention span, arrangement based on types of record shouldn't take preeminence over an arrangement that will help the audience appreciate the music.
That arrangement would have put a lot of people off this album. In essence, that might not be down to questionable production, but bad tracklisting. An eagerly anticipated album must be properly arranged to aid excitement. The beauty of this album lies in its progression. Any patient listener that stays till the end and doesn't get pessimistic after the opening few tracks will get his rewards.
Aided by slow-burn, progressively brilliant production that touches several genres, Blackmagic Version 3.0 is an amazing experience on the growth and struggles of a creative who is dealing with pressure, vanity, doubt, masculinity and relationship issues. Even when he finds patches of happiness, it seems to fade out quickly like candelight in a sandstorm.
This struggle seemingly pushes him to the brink of suicide, but he survives and documents it on his music. In a lot of ways, Blackmagic's avant-garde approach to making 'Hip-Pop music,' the doses of introspect, lyrical and thematic symbolism, and how the can be passively brilliant as minutes pass links this album to Man On The Moon II by Kid Cudi.
In a lot of ways, Blackmagic and Kid Cudi share similarities. The emotion-based creativity, sonic trailblazing, humming, spazzed-out vocal texture and so forth makes them similar.
What is bad on this album?
The mixing feels badly done - the fact that some songs kept coming back was annoying. Even if that was the idea, it was a bad one. And what is that album art?
Equally, the album should have been tagged, 'Struggling Artist; instead of 'Starving Artist' - a better representation of the music on the album. 'Struggle' has a wider connotation than 'starve.' While we cannot tell artists what to do, we can judge the workability and success of the approach to an album.
The few times BlackMagic throws himself into the bowels of political chatter, conscious rap or introspect, it feels scatterbrained. However, some might argue that Blackmagic is simply expanding the reach of his conversation and they might have a point.
But in consequence, there's only so much an artist can do with suddenly dragging conversations about love into failures of the government. If you are going to do that, there has to be a nexus that connects both narratives.
But then, we move.
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
Pulse Rating: /10
Tracklist: 0.8/2
Content, Songwriting and Themes: 1.9/2
Production: 1.8/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.3/2
Execution: 1.4/2
Total: 7.2 - Champion
Post a Comment