Artist- May D
Guest Appearances- Davido, K Switch, Olamide, 2Face Idibia, P- Square
Producers- Papy J, Mecca E, Oskido, Fliptyce, Sossick, Shizzi, UC Praw, Peter Okoye
Record Label- Confam Entertainment (2013)
Duration- 1 hour 19 minutes
May D’s story isn’t ready yet.
When it comes to fast-food pop music of the Nigerian kind, albums are constructed in one way- fill your album with party tracks made up of banging beats, leaving little or no room for any kind of varying content. Wande Coal’s stellar debut album From Mushin To Mo’ Hits introduced this approach to constructing an LP in 2009. Since then every pop savvy artist in Nigeria has copied this ‘formula’ and worked it till death. Wizkid used it in 2011, Davido and D’Prince used in 2012. While and Wiz and Davido were able to use the formula with relative success, the flaw of this method was exposed on D’Prince’s debut Frenzy, -when there is no concept piecing the songs together the album falls apart.
Unfortunately many acts still believe in the principle of flooding their LP with party tracks. Former P Square signee May D has chosen to construct his debut album Chapter One this way. It’s not surprising judging from his pre-album singles which predominantly lean towards the dance floor. The good news is that most of the songs on the album have what it takes to stand alone and create the desired effect. The sad news? When they are lumped together, the whole project gets very tiring. There is no common thread, concept or arc holding the songs together to help narrate a more compelling story. The sad part is that he has a compelling story to tell- his sudden, controversial exit from Square Records.
On the introductory track ‘Story of My Life’ May D sings about his come up. While the song is heavy on his syrupy pop style the song lacks emotion. It is the same ol’ rags to riches story sans drama. As earlier written some songs do have presence when pulled out from the collective. ‘Use Me’ is a Sossick produced song that has a hard hitting base line to compliment May D’s pop bounce. ‘Cool Temper’ has that May D pop flavouring that we’ve come to like. ‘Get Down’ is a slightly intriguing piece of work which differs from the same approach on other love/party songs that choke the album. ‘Ogogoro’ is a Sean Paul inspired freestyle that does its work- make you dance.
The P-Square era singles still hold their charm. ‘Ile Ijo’ is still a scorcher, ‘Gat Me High’ still sounds as if it just came out from the pop factory yesterday and ‘Soundtrack’ will still have you moving your loins more seductively than Iyanya’s ‘Ur Waist’.
Unfortunately, 20 tracks deep is a bit of a stretch if you don’t have a loose narrative for an album. May D could have written a more entertaining chapter surrounding his split from P Square but he decides to continue the song and dance routine. How long can people dance? With pop-oriented beats May D sings about love and partying practically from top to bottom minus a refreshing approach. When he deviates on the conscious ‘Suffering and Smiling’ the beat overshadows the content.
May D also falls into the pothole of rhyming for rhyming sake (the bane of Naija fast-food pop music). ‘girl you dey make me craze like Faze/no be small thing like 2Face/ and I know say I black like Black Face…for my place you gon put it on me/this one bad pass Tom and Jerry’ courageously sings May D.
On his run of the mill collabo with Davido ‘Ur Eyes’ he sings ‘come be my lady’ five times before he sings the chorus. This is another annoying aspect of the so-called Naija pop- filling up space with repetitive phrases when there is no more idea on what to write (or freestyle).
And then, 2Face Idibia gives off an uninspiring verse on ‘Nobody’- which is sadly the album’s closing track. It leaves the body of work on a low note.
The first chapter of May D’s album fails to grip thanks to a collection of songs that fail to tell any story; thanks to a body of work that lacks a compelling arc or concept. What’s a book without a story – a bunch of sentences?
Chapter One as an album is less than the sum of its parts. Hopefully May D will unravel his story in subsequent chapters.
Rating- 3/5.
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