Reminisce released his 7th project and his 3rd project this decade, Sui Generis. The veteran Ibile rapper dropped the extended play project under a year since the release of his 5th studio album and 6th project, ATSG Vol.1 (Alaye Toh Se Gogo); with the Sarz produced Hustle with Bnxn and US emcee D Smoke, Niphkeys‘ Shina Peters with late MohBad, and Why? featuring Oxlade produced by Rhookcastle, as lead singles.
Baba Hafusa, as expected, displayed versatility on seven tracks that cross over different audience demographics and psychographics: rap, hip-hop, and regular audiences. He kicked off with his first single and club banger, Up As Fxck featuring Bad Boy Timz on September 11th. A song that appeals to the older social night crawler communities and the younger GenZ/Gen Alpha audience, with a potential of being an anthem or slang. He followed it up with Kupe on 25th September that was made with the rap and hip-hop heads in mind, and released the Sui Generis 2 days later (27th September).
Sui Generis (EP)
The opening track and second single, Kupe, automatically sucked in listeners. The project opener, produced by Reward, is a solid blend of boom-bap delivery on a modern and celestial/ethereal hip-hop beat that lifts the listener to his class. Reminisce raps “Listen I have never given you none of those cheap flows / OG apparatus, mo ni cheat code…” a reminder to his efforts and milestones in the hip-hop industry (which goes way back to 2008, officially). The Ol’G also hinted on passing in the baton pretty soon as he has continued to shell out music for a voracious audience, and to be left alone once he hangs his microphone.
Ire returns the listener to reality. Bhadboi OML serenades us on a Busy-produced mid-tempo beat that puts you in a reflective moment, where you put your insignificance in the universe into perspective. Ire crosses over from secular to Religious houses, while Reminisce ensures the song remains on believers’ playlists by keeping his lyrics and delivery free of cusses and curses.
Reminisce may have found a way into Friday or Sunday playlists of moderate believers, and possibly morning playlists –– it’s already in mine. A great way to start your morning
The tempo was switched up on UP As Fxck. The Club Banger is all about living your life regardless of circumstances, according to Bad Boy Timz. Get on the dance floor and dance your sorrows away; your money, your rules. A&R-wise, the song may have become a national/global sensation with an additional rapper on it; the Hungry–read as ambitious rookie–and the Pensioner on a dance track would leave room for the Gen Z & Alpha listeners to relate with the circumstances presented by the hungry emcee and go with their own interpretations.
Drumphase produced The Ultimate a track on the project is a mid-tempo track with potential cultural impact. The producer did a good job sampling KWAM 1‘s Omo Niger, giving the entire song a Fuji vibe; more Fuji than hip-hop.
Reminisce and Vector flowed elegantly on the song that is about a little debauchery one of the rewards for all the struggles of life or a hard day is a little fornication. With lyrics like “ki ma gbasi ni koro” from Reminisce and “6 foot for the third leg, opambata, Yeshua!”
Owo may have little depth, but it is a potential gold mine for producers now and in the future for sampling. Although the song reminded me of Wasiu‘s Solo Makinde at first listen due to similarities in tempo and kicks. The song may have taken over the streets if a Fuji artiste had jumped on it, or I dare say Asake. The fuji fusion cannot be ignored, a job well done to TMXO for such a disgusting fusion that lightens up your frontal lobes, thus making you let loose and forget your sorrows for 3 minutes.
Reminisce continues to find a place with the older generation, Millennials and older Gen Zs raised on local genres. He uses current social activities and slang to stay updated as he maintains a lackadaisical stance throughout the song.
A street song / potential anthem.
Reminisce introduces us to Olori Logos, Bardbanks, and Easyscope on the Rage-produced Scopatumana. The uptempo beat was not given a breather by all four artistes on the song, giving it an infectious, energetic vibe. Being a less than 3minutes song, all four didn’t have a lot to say on thumping kicks that has you driving top down on Third mainland at midnight; with a female passenger from the after-party that just played Owo and on to the end the party.
Perhaps Easyscope on Owo might just have hit home differently. Yeah, check him out.
Reminisce ends the tape with a song for the ladies featuring Lucid on Backshots. He goes briefly into details of a hot sensual session with a love interest. While Lucid brings to life melodies and harmonies that fit into any bedroom playlist.
Who knows, you just might win over your crush with this song.
The EP finds a sweet spot between Critical and Commercial, and it also has its flaws. Reminisce may not be as hungry as in the previous decade when he chatted on Billboard with two consecutive albums –– Baba Hafusa and El-Hadjj –– hence, he really may have said a lot of the things that needed to be said, as he is now in his sit back and relax era. This led to a very short tape; averaging 2 minutes 7 seconds per track.
It begs if the project’s A&Rs intentionally ignored the lightness of the track quality to go for the usual “audience short attention span” excuse. An excuse responsible for the 2-minute noodle lightweight songs released in the Nigerian industry this decade. The spaces left as a result of short verses could have been covered by 16-32 bar verses from an underground hip-hop act such as OluwaMillar, etc., increase both the replay value and longevity of the songs; OluwaMillar started his career at the turn of this decade.
Beyond the shortness and limited potential of the tracks, Sui Generis delivers in perfectly fusing hip-hop (traditional and progressive) with local genres. Kudos to all seven producers, guest artistes, and Reminisce for catering to different audience demographics and psychographics while maintaining their originality, and living the relatability to the sound and their lyrics. This is a great fore-runner for the incoming ATSG Vol.2 LP, which I hope will have an OluwaMillar feature on a classic hip-hop track.
