After taking a brief break from the music scene due to the loss of his mother, Seyi Vibez resurfaces with a brand new album tagged Vibez Till Thy Kingdom Comes on Thursday 8th of June.
Although his comeback is shrouded in controversies ranging from accusations of style theft/copycatting to beef with Marlian music’s Zinoleesky, the album became an instant hit as it gathered millions of streams on it’s first day of release. The album contains two previously released singles Amdallah and Hat-Trick which have been topping charts since release.
After multiple listens since it’s release, here is our honest review and thoughts on the album, walk with us and enjoy the ride while you listen or before you do.
Track List
Track 1 – Kingdom
The introductory track on this body of work contains African chants saying “No pain no gain” subsequently followed by a rendition of a worship song by choristers signifying Seyi Vibez’s unique underground subgenre of Afrobeats known on the streets as “Afro-Adura”.
The talented artiste quickly introduces you to what he is about to expose you to; a burst of rhythm and Vibes richly laced with a mixture of beautiful language use .
Track 2 – Hat Trick
This is the most controversial track on this album as it opens with Seyi Vibez flirting with beautiful Nigerian Grammy award winner Tems, and Mavins Record’s current First Lady Ayra Star. Seyi in the same breath addressed the streaming farms issue indirectly naming somebody with the code name “tikabodi”.
“Hat–Trick” which was released as the official single of this album became an instant success flying to the top of the charts. It currently sits at the Number 1 spot on Apple music Nigeria as at when this review is written.
Track 3 – For The Gods
On “For the Gods”, Oluwaloseyi employs the African log drums while code switching between Yoruba, Arabic and English languages. On this track Seyi can be heard issuing stern warnings to the streets while hailing his producer (drummer), and portraying himself as a prayer warrior relying on his newly found call and response pattern which has obviously become his comfort zone.
The presence and contribution of the female background artiste is felt clearly on this record indicating how much of a team player Seyi Vibez is.
Track 4 – Deja Vu
This track starts out with the usual house/piano intro immediately followed by Seyi’s voice laced with the Yoruba Muslim tone of music. This track is clearly ment to showcase Seyi’s deep musical root while he admonishes listeners to have faith in their hustle. A clean touch and a feel good vibe.
Track 5 – Suddenly
‘Suddenly’ features the ace producer cum singer Young John who came through with his sonorous voice and catchy jiggy vibe. This track proves beyond doubt that the versatility of Seyi Vibez is no myth. The chemistry between both artistes on this jam is a match made in heaven. A jiggy vibe with sweet melody through and through.
Track 6 – Fuji Interlude
This is a spice, showcasing the legendary Fuji genre which has a great deal of influence on what we know today Afrobeats. I honestly believe this interlude could have been better because most people would argue Seyi got his inspiration from Fuji music. All in all the message was clearly delivered, Fuji music is goated.
Track 7 – Gangster
A mellow love song with the proper and perfect line up of features. Russ and Jibrelle did amazing work complementing Seyi Vibez’s vocal capacity to produce a top notch record. This track is distinct on the album however as it takes the “Pon pon” beats instead of the usual Amapiano drums and chords. Call this a love song from the trenches.
Track 8 – Money Matter
This track is a test to Seyi’s versatility as he enlists, and goes head to head with Amapiano superstar Focalistic who sampled the Legendary Fela’s “She go say she be lady” line on his verse.
Generally, money matter is a lovely jam and both lead, and featured artistes delivered a perfect blend of what we would love to call Afro-Piano.
Track 9 – Amdallah
On a first listen, this song gives you a vibe of a proper party banger with a catchy hook and lyrics which flows seamlessly on the Amapiano spiced beat. A second play though will change your mind because this Track is an engineering defect on the project as Seyi’s call and response pattern wasn’t well mixed, and the song turned out to be too “noisy” in the real sense. The studio engineers were probably on a different strain while at work.. 😜
Track 10 – Blacka Rhythm
This highly Spiritual track is arguably one of the best outros to any project released so far in 2023.
On this track Seyi addresses a wide range of issues apparently bothering his mind, ranging from people trying to undermine his hard work, and resilience to questioning why the good and the young die young.
This rhythm cuts deep towards the end where he paid tribute to his late mum, and sister. The rhythmic chants from the chorister sets the mood for what is to be known as a sad tribute song and a symbol of strength.
In conclusion, this album Vibez Till Thy Kingdom Comes is an awesome body of work, showing how far an artiste like Seyi Vibez can go as long as they keep experimenting an evolving. Kudos to his team and his producers on a job well-done, from instrumentals to features, perfect background voices and overlays to tracklisting, it’s a complete smooth sail.
Rating : 8.0/10
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