The Pick: Show Dem Camp Tap Up Oxlade For the Sonorous “Mine Alone”

Our Song Of The Week!

The return of Show Dem Camp is marked with the usual excitement generated leading up to their releases. Palmwine Music 3 comes as their sixth project in the last five years, alternating between their Palmwine Music and Clone Wars series. Show Dem Camp’s Palmwine projects are characterized by lighter topics and more tropical sounds. And just like Folu Storms says in the intro to Palmwine Music 3, it is centered around “love, relationships, how it makes us, [and] how it breaks us.”

Navigating any type of relationship can be tough, depending on the precedents set and the dynamics that exist between multiple parties. In “Mine Alone”, however, Show Dem Camp depicts how it feels when initial desire sets in and the butterflies in our tummy newly escape their cocoons. They tap up Oxlade to convincingly drive their point across. Together, they’re able to craft a record that will turn out to be a soundtrack of love, at least on Lagos streets.

If you didn’t know how to talk to women before, Show Dem Camp and Oxlade provide a masterclass that can fix that. Across three verses, their pen game is convincing as they drop lines that will make most love interests pay attention. “True say a badman was never too good at Algebra/but our first date just broke the hex/when I took your number, and we cracked the formula/are reasons why you should replace my ex”, said Ghost, delivering his bars with healthy levels of certainty.

One thing that is undeniable is Show Dem Camp’s relevance to Nigeria’s music scene. Either as a soundtrack to a party or a microscope through which we can view the current state of the country, their music, over the years, has served different purposes. Palmwine Music 3 continues a tradition of SDC letting us into their world, and they are certainly one of the best hosts around.