A Pulse review of Guchi's 'Purple Diary' EP
In 'Purple Diary', Guchi combines intoxicating melody, plain sailing writing, and smooth delivery as she shows off the hopeless romantic in her.
Guchi is an artist whose music offers simple, playful, and everyday lyrics, an intoxicating melody, and a soulful delivery that bares her heart to her listeners and allows for easy digestion.
While her sound doesn't offer the attention-grabbing elements - leg shuffling beat and lyrics that gleans from street lingua (Lamba) - her ability to fashion melody makes it appealing. And it's this sonic appeal that drives this project.
A substantial part of Guchi's discography is dedicated to expressing her romantic desires and she retains this theme in the R&B/Pop project 'Purple Diary'. While the choice of the color purple derives from her artistic color code, it also denotes an affectionately strong feeling which plays out all through the album.
In the opening track 'Not Just Ok' she talks about going to the length of getting into debt to show her feelings for her love interest. She delicately delivers the words with her melody offering the fragility and depth of her feelings.
'Taken Over' might be an early contender for the best song on the project as it combines a vibrant Duktot Sett beat with a smooth verse from Ladipoe. Guchi raised her level as she delivers a stimulating melody that delivers that captures the urgency of her needs. The song shows the pedestal on which she places her lover and her helplessness in stopping him from taking over her body and soul. The lyrics convey her feelings with an adequate sprinkling of sexual innuendo to make for a stimulating project.
While she says struggles to regain control in 'Taken Over', she appears to surrender control in 'Control' where she quite plainly offers herself to her lover. She admits that she's willing to make herself available for the night 7 days a week which she recites in French. Although she sexualizes herself on this record, it's from the lens of a hopeless romantic and this holds a mirror to other hopeless romantics.
On the Pop record, 'I Swear' feat. Yemi Alade with whom she shares notable similarities in writing and melody but differs in vocal depth and manipulation, she again acceded to being emotionally malleable by her lover. Their delivery is smooth and the melody is enjoyable. While not a captivating record, the beat which is strikingly similar to AG's 'Five Star' allows for their vocals to shine.
'Shattered' is another contender for the best record on the project which uses log drums to offer a catchy pattern over which Guchi delivered expertly. The chorus stands out and the hurt the lyrics are meant to convey in the catchy melody.
"Make we do the wrong things in a good way," she says in 'Invasion' which she laced with harmonies that blend perfectly with the horns and riffs for a rhythm that offers a Rumba-like sound.
Final Notes
Overall, in 'Purple Diary', Guchi conveys her many desires as a hopeless romantic with emotional and physical yearnings for which she craves satisfaction.
What she might lack in penmanship, she more than makes up for in impressive melodies and effortless delivery. And while her music doesn't have that Afrobeats essence that makes for mainstream appeal, Guchi has been able to sing her way into the hearts of young listeners albeit mostly female who love the playful, vulnerable, uncomplicated, and stimulating nature of her music.
While she has the talent to deliver a quintessential Afrobeats song with all its majestic elements, her streaming numbers and her appeal on Tik Tok would suggest that her sound has already found attentive listeners.
For an artist like herself at such a point in her career, the desire to satisfy and retain the attention of her primary listeners should take priority. A record like 'Taken Over' should offer a glimpse of her talent to the mainstream and with a talent like that, listeners would want to see what she's about.
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
Album Sequencing: 1.6/2
Songwriting, Themes, and Delivery: 1.6/2
Production: 1.7/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.6/2
Execution: 1.6/2
Total: 8.1 - Champion
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