EP Review: Holes In A Pair by Slimo

EP Review: Holes In A Pair by Slimo

Any avid watcher of the poetry scene in Ghana today would have noticed the vibrancy and energetic efforts at pushing the artform towards the centre of entertainment. 
Poets are leading this effort through the release of various projects-mostly EPs. This year has seen the release of some compelling body of work by some leading voices within the poetry scene; picking up from last year. With the release of these EPs, poets aren’t concentrating on sharing their works with just a handful of poetry enthusiasts in a small room. They are reaching out to a larger audience- both far and near.
Slimo, a performance poet is the latest to join the caravan of EP dropping poets. His 6 track EP, “Hair In A Pair”, is a collection of thoughts and observations on relationships.
Slimo’s love for poetry began in Junior High School but it wasn’t until at the University that he took to performance. He emerged on the radar of many after placing third at the annual Ehalakasa Slam in 2016. On “Holes In A Pair”, one clearly notice his gifts-artistry, nuances, clarity of thoughts. For Slimo, “Holes In A Pair” is a reflection on a flaws in relationships: between a father (Sugar Daddy) and daughter; Mother and Daughter; Man and Life; Girl and an Ex”. 
The stories on the Spider 64 produced EP are, according to Slimo ”inspired by real life experiences of a lady”. It features Elidor The Poet, Jeff Joen and Tommy Maverick
​ The EP’s ‘Intro’ present a poet who trades talking or speaking for rapping. It’s the musings of a jilted lover who completely extricate himself of any blame: ‘said I’m the cause of all this but had your mind made up. Just to look good in the eyes of the people. Don’t you do that with your make-up?’.
On ‘Sugar Daddy’, his descriptive writing comes to light- he describes his characters and situations in vivid detail: ‘margins of his singlet shows/ the armpit of his shirt are soaked in sweat‘. Employing a skit from the classic ‘I Told You So’ movie as a contextual tool, he brings a tone of comic relief to a serious subject. ‘Sugar Daddy’ is a story about infidelity- a young girl dating a older married man whose wife is being banged by the young girl’s brother. He aced on how he eneded the story.
‘Her Mother’ is a ‘how to be a lady’ letter from a concerned mother to her daughter. She takes cognizance of today’s fashion culture- short, tight, skimpy and cleavage showing crop tops-worn to win likes on social media. Her conservative views on dress codes stems from the fact that ‘there’s no proof that decency was different than it is now’. She emphasizes the notion of ‘you get addressed by how you dress’ especially in attracting the right guy: ‘You search for the right guy is like a mirage in a desert with thirsty nomad’.
‘Is life unfair?’, that’s question ‘Fruits’, the bluesy/country-esque guitar driven piece seek to unravel. ‘Fruits’ explores the relationship between Man (humans) and Life. With vox pops serving as anecdotes, Slimo eschews the notion of pre-determinism. He regards failure as a human choice (life is not fair is a cliche that denote failure). He bemoans the often crazeof blaming life for what it offers rather than taking the blame for how ones life turns out. In his view, ‘life is fair if you make yourself useful’.
Both ‘Numbers’ and ‘Blues’ play on the concept of unrequited love and the recuperation process after a break-up respectively. Sampling Nina Simone’s ‘You Know How I Feel’, Slimo whines about the unevenness in relationships; where one party isn’t into you. He questions the trip that is love: if love is that good a feeling, why do you have to fall before you feel it?’. 
‘Blues’ on the other hand, deals with the difficulty in seeking a perfect palliative after a break-up: do you jump in a new one, curse him for stealing your innocence, taking long walks? Or you still wish he calls you, send you those text, make you a priority?.
“Holes In A Pair” scores high in some aspects – creative presentation of thoughts, right theme songs to aid his expressions, a voice tone that’s not irritating- some male poets like to flaunt their skills and cadences unnecessarily. 
However, there are flaws, minor though as noticed on ‘Sugar Daddy’ and ‘Fruits’, where the transition from song/skits to delivery didn’t merge well. His opinion about how women should dress (on Her Mother) would raise eye browns in some quarters especially the link between decent dressing and marrying the ‘right guy’ Although the EP is inspired by the reality of a lady friend, Slimo excused men of blame for some of their actions that provokes post traumatic love disorder. 
As a debut project, “Holes In A Pair” is a good advert for Slimo. His talents are not in question. How he goes from this point would define him, as an artist, a writer and a creative mind. Every relationship has it’s flaws (holes) and this EP seek to ask the simple question: what is the hole in your pair (relationship)?