Practically how DJ Neptune appears to have elevated ‘Greatness’ with ‘2.0.’
All the Afrobeats stars that you currently adore sought his favor at one point or the other. This was an era when DJs held all the aces, both on radio and in real-life settings, and here is how DJ Neptune appears to have elevated ‘Greatness’ with ‘2.0.’
Dear Gen Z, it’s a great time to notify you that DJ Neptune is an OG. As a DJ, Neptune was a core part of the culture that started at Raypower FM.
They had all the leverage and artists and execs alike pandered to them heavily. Neptune always had a personality.
From the Hip-Hop era, Neptune’s mind for music was an instant attraction for artists. That’s why superstar features are seldom tough for him.
If the young artist doesn’t understand who approached him for a verse, his OG or label exec will tell him.
Streaming might be slowly becoming the new reality, but we’re still some way off the reality, where DJs are irrelevant.
Radio remains the biggest purveyor for Nigerian music, and at the helm of affairs is DJs. Neptune might have transitioned out, but he’s still one of Africa’s most sought-after DJs.
On November 26, 2021, he released Greatness 2.0, his sophomore album. It’s a follow-up to his 2018 effort, Greatness.
Like its predecessor, Neptune’s 2021 album is a marker in time: like a playlist, which documents the sounds and sound makers of a time.
‘Greatness’ was a blend of established stars and periodic/transient sound makers, who indelibly marked the sands of Nigerian sonic times.
But ‘Greatness 2.0,’ is an entirely different experience. While it houses some established stars, it’s mostly a nod to the current sonic reality and the future of African music, as afforded by the success of Neptune’s continental smash, ‘Nobody.’
The album features African stars like Focalistic, Harmonize, Anjella, and Kofi Jammar on appropriate beats, with suitable genres.
At its nucleus is Neptune, who serves as Executive Producer and A&R. He leads with his earned understanding of sounds and suitable artists.
He also shows that he has evolved with time, and stayed the course as Nigerian music continues to evolve, with a yearly launch of new players.
At times, it feels like Neptune either has an amazing ear for great beats and matches them with the right feature, or has an artist in mind, and simple tasks Magic with making a suitable beat – ‘Love Potion’ seems modeled after Adekunle Gold’s recent singles while ‘Recipe’ seems to be modeled after ‘Highway’ and Phyno’s recent dabbles in traditional sounds like Ogene and Ekpili.
Regardless, on every track, there is an alignment of beat, feature, and delivery. ‘For You’ is a perfect record for Rema, ‘Rise Up’ is perfect for Waje and a Laycon cameo, the sex-themed ‘Cupid’ is perfect for Blaqbonez, ‘Hustle’ is perfect for Focalistic, ‘Love Potion’ aligns with the new Adekunle Gold, ‘Only Fan’ is perfect for Omah Lay and ‘My Woman’ is the perfect East African record.
Whenever he features two artists on a record, the sound engineering is brilliant enough to make one artist the main focus without making the other artist seem like a peripheral figure.
Ratings:
Production quality
Tracklisting
Songwriting
Intro
Outro
70%
70%
80%
80%
70%
Mid = 0.00
Average = 0.01
Good = 2.5
Excellent = 2.5
Conclusion:
Mp3bullet gives the EP 75% (Good) general rating