A Review Of Man Of The Year By Skales
In 2015, off some come-back singles and a Segun Adebutu bankrolled label (Baseline records) Skales named his debut corpus "Man of the year". A 67 minutes sonic voyage which had on board 12 artists and 12 producers as passengers.
Man of the year or MOTY for short was Skale's attempt at silencing the naysayers, people who felt he won't amount to anything after he was kicked out of EME.
The album began with words from Do2tun, an On-Air Personality with Cool Fm, followed by the poignant "I'm a winner" which featured Burna Boy who came blazing, he made Skales a spectator on this track. MOTY was structured in such a way Skales became the griot telling the listeners all had been through in the last ten years.
During his five years contract with EME, Skales was second fiddle to Wizkid, apparently because he raps and Wizkid sing, at a point during their brawl, Wizkid was reported to have tweeted that he was responsible for his stay on the record label.
The 12 months leading to this album release was enamored with blessings, divine favour, there was also the switch in Skales sounds, he changed from rapping to singing, the Hip Hop purist were unhappy with this but the bills were happier.
The first sign of what to come from Skales began with the Jay Pizzle-produced Shake body (May 2014), it was swiftly followed with "Give it to me", Bo Shey She Mi, and others.
Tracks like Lo le, Koyewon, and Shake body on this album were party rocker, banging beat, with Lo Le having some minimal sex-tinged lines. Davido delivered the cliche love song via Always while Olamide comes through with an avalanche of witty saying on the Fuji-flavoured Ijo Ayo. The gong and drum come atop. What's up was a drab attempt at creating a love-party jam, who notice the occasional Dbanj liked undertone.
Inspired by Timaya's Sanko, Skales towed the Dancehall route on I am for real, it was filled with humdrum. Skales had words for Wizkid on " Fa Ra We Mi l". Swagger Man was self acclamation cruise with Skales dropping emotive and introspective lines alongside Ice Prince and Phyno. No Condition was a gospel/inspirational tune.
On Man Of The Year, Skales was on a mission to right the wrongs of the EME days while at the same time he keeps the fans grooving with his party shakers which were strategically positioned on the album, while the titular remain over ambitious Skales gave a good account of himself on this lengthy project.
Grade: 3/5
Emmanuel Daraloye
