Wanna talk about the streets? Naira Marley is the keyword. He’s the one popping, making fans on the streets go gaga.
While 90% may be too much of an exaggeration, it’s in fact true that many ‘Marlians’ don’t even have Instagram, or any social media.
When he drops a new single, it’s not just for the Instagram fans or the guys using Company Wi-Fi to stream on YouTube. No. It’s mostly for the guys at the barbershops, at the local bars, waiting for the next ‘gbedu’ to drop and people who just pick up music from the roadside. So, while a lot of people were doing Soapy for Instagram views, a whole lot more are just having fun on the street, enjoying Naira Marley.
Now, let’s say, Naira Marley, who is a street ambassador is to drop a song that doesn’t stick, that isn’t catchy and that is easily disposable? Say, a song “Mafo“ that couldn’t compete with “Pawon” or “Bolanle” or even his own “Soapy” on the streets? What would you make of that?
Naira Marley is a street artist, and ‘standards’ ain’t a word on these streets. Everybody just does his stuff, his own way and they’re all making shit happen. That was before Zlatan and Naira Marley came along and raised the bar, though. Now any artist that wants to crack a street hit, can’t just do some rubbish, he’s gotta have a real concept or storyline that kicks. Naira Marley made sure of that by dropping “Opotoyi”, “Am I a Yahoo Boy” and “Soapy.”
But, there’s something about his new single with Olamide’s long-term producer, Young John, that just doesn’t seem right. The instrumental is the same ol’ same ol’, and doesn’t really move a nerve. Naira Marley goes back and forth on the track, with no real plan as to what end he’s dropping those lyrics. He even repeated catchphrases from other songs, like “inside life” on it, rendering the song to just an attempt to remake his magic work.
Young John has been low-key, for far too long. The last time we heard from him was “Ello Baby” when he feautured Kizz Daniel and Tiwa Savage. Truth is, Young John is one of those producers that if a big artist doesn’t have a song with, we ask why. We even ask how that artist became ‘big’. And his work on high tempo beats is like Thor swinging his hammer.