EMPIRE presents…
At the end of November, EMPIRE, an American distribution company and Record label, gave us a big album: Where We Come From, Vol. 1.
The album features a good number of big African artists like Olamide, Kizz Daniel, L.A.X, Tiwa Savage, Asake, Bnxn FKA Buju, Black Sheriff, Kuami Eugene and Kidi.
EMPIRE has previously released a lot of albums across different genres but is usually focused on hip-hop. This album is the first of its kind–a joint collaboration for Africa. (Most of the songs on this album were recorded in San Francisco.)
Several of EMPIRE’s albums and singles have charted on Billboard, including Tyga’s ‘Taste’ featuring Offset and XXXTentacion’s ‘Look at me’. We’ll be expecting this album to top some charts as well–not necessarily billboard though.
The very first song on the album, I Feel Nice, by Kuami Eugene and Group Chat, is a big banger with a magical hook.
Released in October, the second track on the album, Kizz Daniel’s Cough (Odo) was well received by Nigerians not only because the song was (is) a hit but also because it came with a fun dance routine.
In Slow Motion, the third track, we are reminded of just how beautiful Wande Coal’s voice is as he collabos with Tolani. Even Bnxn’s voice in Dance For Me with KiDi is giving.
Black Sheriff is having the time of his life, everything he touches at the moment seems to turn to gold. His track, Run, is an emotional one, as has been the case with most of his songs, because of his unique voice.
Bad Boy Timz’s Faya was a solid project. And speaking of solid, let’s talk about Loaded featuring Asake and Tiwa Savage. When it was first released, a lot of us wondered why Asake took charge for a better part of the song even though it was Tiwa’s name appearing as the main artist. Well, I guess we can now see why, it was a joint project, with Empire as the ‘owner’.
In Wound Someone, Olamide de carry us de go where we no know with very aggressive rap that can actually ‘wound someone’.
It’s amazing to see how far Cheque has come in Off White–from being known as Phyno’s prodigy to featuring in big albums like this one. Comparing Cheque when he started and how he’d mostly rap/sing in Igbo, to him and his mostly English songs now; we can only wonder if Phyno would have been bigger if he had delivered a lot of his songs in English instead of Igbo. Well…
Since this album has been dubbed Vol. 1, we expect that we’ll be getting a Vol. 2 EMPIRE in the nearest future. Also, we can’t help but gush at the fact that the album featured so many Nigerian artists; it shows just how far we’ve gone in the music industry. Love it!
#Updated brings you lists, roundups, and the latest news on the hottest topics. This edition reviews EMPIRE’s album Where We Come From, Vol. 1
