Album Review: Made In Lagos – Wizkid

Released on 30th October, 2020 by Starboy Entertainment and RCA Records, Made In Lagos is the fourth studio album of WizKid and the fifth compilation project after the likes of Superstar, Ayo, Sounds From The Other Side and Soundman EP Vol 1. It features a 14-song genres of Afrobeats, RnB, Soul and Reggae. Blending the album into dynamic sounds of the genres, WizKid took his time to produce sonorous tunes based on love, gratitude, life and relationships. He took a great step in featuring the likes of Grammy-winning artiste H.E.R, Reggae emperor Damien Marley, UK giant Skepta, Grammy-winning artiste Burna Boy, Fans favorite Tems, Ella Mai, Terri, Projexx and Tay Iwar.

10 of the songs in this album were produced by legendary producer P2J and the rest were produced by the likes of Legendury beatz, Juls, London and Sarz. P2J surely knows how to slot the right sound for the right lyrics. He is the brain behind the fantastic display of Reckless which sends a chill into the hearts and ears of listeners. Reckless is no doubt a hit but as agenda must agendate, haters will criticize it. He is also the brain behind Ginger (with KelP), Longtime (with Sarz), Mighty Wine, Blessed, Smile, Piece of me, No Stress, Sweet One, Essence (with Legendury beatz) and Grace. Juls was the brain behind sonorous sound True Love featuring Tay Iwar and Projexx who also featured in Jam inside Soundman EP. Blaqjerzee produced Roma featuring Terri while Gyrate was produced by London.

Reckless is a 3:53 minute song while Ginger featuring Burna Boy entailed 3:16 minutes. Skepta assisted track, Longtime had 4:00 minutes, Mighty Wine had 3:38 minutes while the longest on the album is Blessed featuring Damien Marley with 4:23 minutes. Smile featuring H.E.R had 4:12 minutes, Piece of me featuring Ella Mai had 3:17 minutes, No Stress had 3:49 minutes, True Love had 4:07 minutes while Sweet One had 4:11 minutes. Worldwide hit Essence featuring Tems had 4:08 minutes while the shortest on the album, Roma featuring Terri had 3:00 minutes. Gyrate influenced by London had 3:14 minutes while the last track on the album, Grace spanned through 3:43 minutes. Two lead singles to promote the album were Smile featuring H.E.R on 16th July and No Stress. The music videos for just 4 out of the 14 have been released. Smile was the first video to be released on 24th September, No Stress followed on 30 December, Ginger Dance Video featuring Izzy Odigie and Ginger featuring Burna Boy was released on 8th January while Essence featuring Tems was released last on 9th April. WizKid is known generally for failing to release visuals to his songs and despite this, he always tops when it comes to streams and widely accepted hits.

Today is 30th April which makes MADE IN LAGOS 6 months from its release date and the album still continues to top in major streaming apps such as Spotify, Youtube, Apple music, Boomplay and Audiomack. With 100 million streams within 5 days of its release, Made In Lagos currently, on Apple music, occupies #2 in Nigeria, #9 in South africa, #23 in UK and UAE while Essence clinches the number 8 spot in iTunes.

Wizkid’s MADE IN LAGOS is no doubt a great piece of work and till date, it continues to expand across the world. The rating remains Excellent for such a great project.

What is your view on MADE IN LAGOS after 6 months of release?