THE CUTS: EP 02 Vol. 5
THE CUTS is your weekly round-up of songs and videos that has caught our attention and think you must hear or see. The music featured aren’t genre specific. THE CUTS is delivered every FRIDAY
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Kwame Write – Homeless Minds
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7sr7GogupA&w=560&h=315]
One of the saddening sights in most cities, no matter the level of development, are the homeless folks. Unfortunately, no one seems to care about them. Thier plight forms the basis of ‘Homeless Minds, a spoken word piece by Kwame Write. With Ebo Taylor’s horns adorning ‘Heaven’ (re-created by Yung Fly) swirling beneath his voice, Kwame Write brings their plight to of the fore: ‘he reads me the arcane trade laws negotiating pain/ a newspaper spread covers his head, but in the newspapers his painful story is not shared’. The visuals are random snapshots of both ordinary and homeless people in Paris, France. Kwame Write’s socio-political consciousness is pervasive on his recently released EP, ‘Bloodlines’.
DJ Vision feat Samini – Like December
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I love the Samini I’m hearing. He sounds so comfortable and glorious on this Juls produced single. For a while, I’ve wondered when Samini of 5 years ago would pop up again, dishing out dope material(s) for his fans. Thankfully, DJ Vision’s ‘Like December’ could be the launch pad for Samini to invigorize his career. ‘Like December’, rides on the DJ Juls sound- mellow afrobeat chops blended with infectious highlife rhythms. The song is an idolization of a woman’s features: ‘your body, your body o/e dey make me mental’. Given the unstoppable Shatta Wale train and Stonebwoy’s continuous streak of hits, Samini’s glow has dimed in comparison. Currently, the panache and ingenuity that often surrounded his previous songs is missing. He seemed to be playing catch-up. On ‘Like December’, not only is Samini reminding us he has the glow that endeared many to him, but DJ Vision is making a formidable statement that, he knows how to make bangers- 3 solid hits in a row.
Falz – Jeje
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4miw7yN5bY&w=560&h=315]
Nigerian rapper Falz ‘The Bahdguy’ took advantage of his visit to Ghana, last month, off the back of the Ghana Meet Naija Concert to shoot a video for ‘Jeje’. The mid-tempo danceable song earned a highly impressive video to match its tone. Shot around Jamestown (which has become a favorite music video spot), the video follows Falz as he falls in love: he sees a girl whom he liked, had a convo with her and goes and pick her up from a cafe where she works as a waiteress. The video has some incredible technical qualities: the angles of shots, the location (Jamestown), the pictures isn’t excessively colour graded like the many on our screens; there’s seamless continuity in the story being told. The video is visually appealing.
Alex Wondergem – Off The Dome
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‘Off The Dome’ is a 5 track, 10 mins 52 seconds EP by Alex Wondergem, a producer, DJ and rapper. It’s his debut work aimed at showcasing his talents and also let his thoughts run free over various issues. He states his mission on the opening track God, rapping with such rapidity. Half-Co Flow (a slang for mixed race, which he is) has him rapping over J.Cole’s ‘Back To The Topic’ instrumentals (J.Cole sampled from Cassie and P.Diddy’s ‘Must Be Love’). Man Dem is a shot at haters and hypocrites. Kwahme Flex drops a patios/dancehall hook. Alex talks about the pressures of life on Under Pressure and success on It’s Like A Video Game, where he raps ‘the fire inside won’t ignite unless you search for the light’; a reminder to find your inspiration. Alex, whose collaborative efforts with neo-soul artiste Eli Muzik resulted in the bold, unapologetical “Buying Our Freedom” EP comes off more as Terrence Martins than DJ Khaleed on ”Off The Dome”
bigBen – Princess
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb64Wp_Vox4&w=560&h=315]
bigBen got introduced to Ghanaians off the back of ‘Do My Own’ by M.anifest. He released the video for his single ‘Princess’-a song that carries a ‘this is why I love you’ theme: ‘I got everything that you need so give me yourself‘. The visuals aren’t mind blowing except for those water over glass haziness (don’t know how best to describe it) employed for some of the scenes. bigBen may not be such a huge force within the music circles yet, but his style of singing- a mix between traditional highlife, dancehall and urban afropop- could be a factor in his future success.
MzBel feat Fimfim – Swag
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_veYDB9IA&w=560&h=315]
MzBel should be grateful for whoever ghostwrote and made the reference track for this song. Her rapping was spotless-a quality she has never possessed (by her standard). She raps sometimes yes, but it has never triumphed over this one. ‘Swag’ features rapper Mfimfim (he produced it). As the title suggest, ‘Swag’ is a credential boasting song with MzBel identifying herself as the real ‘boss chick’. MzBel’s popularity has been fueled largely by her controversial acts than her musical exploits so it’s obvious she’s trying to make herself relevant again. Whether it would bring her swag back (pun intended) within the music space is something I doubt. But, who knows.
