The Pick: Adekunle Gold impresses on the dreamy "Sleep"
Our Song Of The Week!
When a 16-year-old Tay Iwar surfaced about 8 years ago, he was just a reclusive teenager with a silvery voice and a fine sense of melody. More importantly, he was also a multi-instrumentalist who knew his way around the popular production software Fruity Loops which he used to really good effect, creating and moulding his unique sonic path right from the jump. His peculiar style ー fusing R&B with several other genres and elements ー immediately distinguished him, placing him into a class of his own. After many years of tweaking and perfecting his sound behind the curtains, he began to catch the eye of more mainstream acts, appearing next to artists like M.I, Tellaman and Juls on their various projects.
His big break would however not come until he popped up on Wizkid’s groundbreaking fourth studio album Made In Lagos, giving a masterful performance on “True Love”, one of the album’s strongest cuts. Since then, he’s slowly grown into the industry’s secret weapon; if you’re looking for a lush, R&B number on your project, Tay is your guy.
Adekunle Gold is the latest in a rapidly expanding list of big-name admirers, snapping up the 24-year-old to produce “Sleep”, one of the better records off his latest studio album Catch Me If You Can. The dreamy record opens with muted synths delightfully mixed with AG Baby’s soothing vocals. The 35-year-old singer is clearly ruminative and emotional here, singing about a dysfunctional relationship. His intentions are not hazy in the slightest when he softly “When I stay we should make it work, I wanna keep it on a regular on a regular / I got stamina / And no lie i’m emotional”. There’s however a searing intensity and heartache that accompanies his gentle vocals when he sings “Another mistake, i’m running relay on emotion / Running on emotion”. Tay’s ethereal production, embellished with sharp guitar chords gives the song both an added intensity and a lulling effect.
It’s a near perfect match: a pop star in transition, one who is gradually expanding his sonic palette securing the services of Nigeria’s R&B golden boy and one of the most progressive and experimental acts from these parts to create a sturdy record that highlights and exemplifies some of their greatest strengths.
