ALBUM RATING: 6/10
Genre: Afro-Alté, Contemporary Rap, Afro-fusion.
Album stream link: https://geo.music.apple.com/ng/album/the-palmwine-express/1491006159?mt=1&app=music
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About two days ago, Rap duo Tec and Ghost aka Show Dem Camp(SDC) released their latest album project titled “Palmwine Express”.
SDC’s PR might not be brilliant but they have a good understanding of the kind of package they’re bringing to the Nigerian Music industry. According to their previous albums, they have two Project Series, the “Clone Wars” series(which is strictly rap) and the “Palmwine” series(which is Alté). This album falls into the Palmwine series therefore it gives the Alté Vibes feeling. This is actually a good strategy seeing as they attract two different music fan base to the same Music brand.
Personally, I prefer the rap version of SDC but they do good work too in their Afro-alternative(Alté) projects. The Alté genre is a genre that’s currently on the rise in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. It is like an African version of the Alternative genre and it is defined by a whole lot of Highlife instrumentals that gives a ‘Feel Good’ cruise, basically what I’m trying to say is, it’s a type of Genre that is soothing.
Truth be told, SDC could have done better on this album, it’s an average album and you’d expect more from artists that aren’t average. Yeah, it’s got amazing features like Burna Boy, Tems, Nonso Amadi, BOJ and the rest, but Alté goes beyond just having a mind-blowing feature list, Alté is a very sensitive Genre and the artists need to gel with the sound and flow. This is why even though they have Burna Boy on all their Palmwine Projects, none of the collab made the wave you’d expect.
Looking at the top songs in my review below, you’d notice that featured artists that have Alté as their Primary genre executes their parts better than other ‘Non-alte’ artists. This isn’t because they are better artists overall, but because they know how to flow better with the Alté Cruise.
The tricky thing about listening to albums whole is that no matter how bad or average the album is, you get a few good songs off it at least. On that note, here are my top 5 songs off the album:
5. Cool Me Down (feat. Fasina)
This track’s inclusion is significantly because of Fasina’s quality. He brought the real Alté quality to the song. The first verse which was his verse and the Chorus are basically the top 2 best moments on the song.
Cool Me Down and just show me the waste line, anywhere you go, I’ma run to the race line
Fasina on Cool Me Down
4. Different Case (feat. BOJ)
We all know the quality BOJ brings to a track. He’s like the Major General of Alté music and his voice was made just for Alté, just hearing BOJ puts you in a chilling cruise. He channels the same energy on ‘Different Case’ as he delivers a beautiful Chorus.
3. Tales by Moonlight (feat. Tems)
Tales by Moonlight is a beautiful song. Super talented Tems did justice to the track. The smooth rap by SDC also had the feel that could put you into a deep Alté cruise. The production was good but the Mixing could have been better. Still a great song.
2. Flex on you (feat. Moelogo)
I know it’s number 2 but it’s my favorite song off the album. It started off with Tec telling a lady about how the SDC journey and how they came on the rise and the music just goes on in that line. Moelogo did so good on this(another Alté artist). A must-get song.
1. In Case (feat. Wani)
An interpolation of 2 shotz “In Case you never know” was already something to look forward to but Wani has just got himself the latest fan (myself), he perfectly executed the bridge, Chorus and Hook. The production and Mixing was also at a 100. One of the stand out songs in the album by far and you should cop this on your Playlist if you love music.
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