Lover Boy, Dreamer Boy; Alté Phenom Hebronola’s Brazenly Honest Revelation
4th April, 2023. It was a few minutes after 12:00 am when we finally received the project. It would have been out sooner, but for logistics delays. But after just the first listen, I decided the wait was worth it. And I haven’t been able to change my mind ever since. 4 months have passed, and I still play at least a song or two from the EP everyday.
The project is special, as is it’s maker. Hebronola is genius, simply put. His lethal arsenal of beats, production, bars, and impeccable lyricism is not a common one, and many artists would be comfortable with just this. Yet Hebron is bent on using these weapons to the maximum level, and even pushed them beyond that. Blending these four elements of his sound is an angelic voice that caresses listeners’ ears with a special insistence, carrying them to planes unknown.
But the project is special too, and finds a way of gripping Ola until it engulfs him, becoming bigger than him. LBDB Is special in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be capable of growing old. Every new listen reveals something you hadn’t heard before, some new layer into Hebron’s “self”. It’s an evergreen sound, simply put.
I still vividly remember the amazement I felt when I heard the project’s first track, STRAIGHT FROM IB, a clear statement of his creative essence.
Borah, the project’s narrator, introduced the EP as a radio station, where listeners would be “connected to sounds from the wavegod himself”. And it is that word “wave” that is special for me. Hebron’s music sounds like a sea, a back and forth, an interior monologue, but with a regular, soothing, yet exciting bop to it.
On STRAIGHT FROM IB, he battles himself and the world outside. Yes, on this intro, he brags. From the very first line, he proclaims that he is a “big boy” with “big dreams “, that he will take “it” by force (whatever “it” means). He claims it’s his time to celebrate ( so early, Hebron?), that he’s the number one candidate and that none of his competition come close to him by whatever parameters are being used to judge. And while his braggadocio might come off as unnecessary, we need to understand that ALL humans face periods of low self-confidence, and for anyone who accepts to be an artist, it’s even worse. You are constantly battling with conviction, or rather the lack of it. And so it’s necessary for us to pump ourselves up, by any means, even if it’s with delusional notions of grandeur.
Because even behind all the grandeur, he’s still just a hurting human. He struggles with loneliness and complains that “them no care how I feel". But it’s very applaudable how quick he is to pick himself up in the next line, where he whistles, “but I no fit cry on my pillow”. He cannot be a crybaby. The world outside might be cold, impersonal, but face it, he must, just like all of us have to.
And so it is this relatability that endears the project to me. He represents something, a group of people, a whole generation even, just by simply being himself, and being honest about his struggles. And aren’t we all the same?
For the eponymous chorus, he sings over and over again that he comes “STRAIGHT FROM IB”. Personally, I sense that this repetition is to remind both himself (the performer), and his listeners (the audience) of where they come from. And I think it’s always a good thing to know where you come from, as it helps you to, in your mind, seal where you’re going, and guide you on the way to your dreams.
And if he is “bipolar” on the intro, NO BE TODAY is even more introspective. The heavenly strings at the song’s beginning are a wonderful prelude to the song’s person. He reminisces how hard it has been to get to where he is, how long it’s taken him, but remains resolute on reaching his goals, despite the hurdles he has to clear.
He also seems to be a sentimentalist of some sort, making promises to love his partner till the day he dies while simultaneously promising his mother that he’ll make it. He wants to help everyone around, but seems to conflicted as to how to do it. Should he love himself first, or does helping them come before that? Collaborator Xtereo adds an even more romantic, introspective vibe for the thirty or so seconds he performs.
But by far, my favourite (and the project’s most successful) song off the EP is MUSTANG. Maybe it’s the Sade Like A Tattoo sample at the intro, or the way he flips the slow, sullen ballad into a fast, energising anthem. But MUSTANG is a mad bop.
His mother has advised him to stay in his lane, but headstrong Hebron thinks he’ll be fine even if he does otherwise. Challenger or the Mustang, which would you like, my love? He asks his girl in the pacey chorus. With her he feels no pain, and so he think she deserves the world.
The drums on this song, are insane. They're something you've only heard from Hebron, and yet your body does not reject them, is at home with them even, as it surrenders into a spasmodic dance while Ola speaks in his own special tongue.
And that beat switch at 1:21, it’s unbelievable. It’s just pure genius, pulling a banger out from an earlier one, the change in tone, and pace is electric. And although, it’s a bit underwhelming that he uses the last five lines of this cypher to rap about his sexual prowess, the earlier four lines are awesome, very awesome. He’s been doing this since he was thirteen and has decided not to join with any of the people “internet capping “. Hebron is desperate about holding onto himself, onto his essence, and even while he “spazzes” on beats, we still see that vulnerability, that fervid desire to be himself, as hard as it is.
I always find it difficult to believe that this song ends, and so, I just have to play it again.
Sadly, all good things come to an end. And the project’s fourth and last track is somewhat underwhelming in my opinion.
The high has dropped, and he’s cheated on his girl, and in the hazy way that a hangover works on the mind, he tells her she can cheat back, so they can “balance it”. FIFTY FIFTY features a very unstable Hebron, starved of his partner’s love, and so desperate for her company, yet still trying to justify his sins. He is listless, broken and yet still stubborn.
Lost as he is, he still seems to know exactly what he needs, her love. His days have become empty and he’s been waking up, “feeling like shit”. He regrets his actions, but stills feels that “one kiss” can make everything right again.
Still, FIFTY FIFTY is definitely an awesome club jam, I just think it lacks as much substance as the other songs on the album.
Because of the E.P's unique sound, it's impossible to compare or assess it based on an earlier body of work. LBDB is Hebron, and has to be graded by a special standard. Hebron sounds like he was doing music in an earlier life. Yes, there's always room for improvement, but it's clear that he isn't too far off from that.
And the project’s genre?
LBDB could easily be an Alté album, or Afrobeats, because it speaks the genres’ core- uniqueness.
But Hebron is Hebron,yes inspired by Alté music, but he is own genre, his own sound, which he's previously described as "freedom".
The album’s sound is completely different from anything you’ve ever heard before, yes there’s some of the popular amapiano in it, and the artist’s message is largely conveyed through Pidgin English and Yoruba (both standard lingo for Alté/Afrobeats acts). But it carries Hebron’s unique voice. It’s so unique that it’s immediately enrapturing, you know within yourself that you’ve never heard anything like it, like him.
Ultimately, Lover Boy, Dreamer Boy is a powerful statement of Hebronola, a revelation of his essence; a young hopeless romantic struggling with finding himself in a cold world. Hebronola is human, yet he is a symbol, he carries the dreams of a generation in his lines, their stories in his voice, and their rhythm in his divine beats.
And when narrator Borah asks if we had a “good time”, no answer is needed. LBDB was a wonderful ride inside the mind of a prophet, and so yes, we had a wonderful time, and will be returning in a few weeks, for the Deluxe.
