ILL BLISS AND RICK ROSS — BEAT DEITES OF DIFFERENT SOCIETIES.


Ill Bliss is the Nigerian Rick Ross, whether you like it or not.Same suave, charisma, modus operandi of unequivocally bold statements and glaring burly build, perfectly suited for a cartel boss in a Mario Puzo novel, but maybe ‘Oga Boss’ needs to grow beards and Ross needs to shed some weight for balance. Rick Ross always had the ‘Boss’ thing going for him, the gimmick was a masterstroke in personal construction. Asides dedicating a song titled ‘Boss’ to stroke his vanity, he does share looks of an archetypal boss.Ill Bliss rides in the same ‘Boss’ wave, the ‘Oga boss’ ad lib enjoys presence in most of his music.
Sticking the other similarities in the shadow of irrelevance, between these two head honchos is the shared impeccable taste for good instrumentals, that seem to speak to listeners across their respective markets. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that IllBliss has a good ear for beats, whether it be dance music or club bangers or classic Hiphop sounds, he rarely disappoints on good beats, effortlessly delivering with his corny brags and sizeable brain.
From the days of the stunner ‘That Ibo boy’, a Frenzy produced, emphatic futuristic sound, that got you to bop your head when it came on to ‘Aiye po gan’ that exhibited Terry G’s dynamic brilliance at crafting listener friendly sound at the time, shooting straight up the charts, Illbliss always never neglects the part of beats in good music and that’s why we love him. Infact as the years rolled by, Illy’s taste for good instrumentals only got better, and Nigerian producers simply evolved into otherworldly maestros making things way easier.
Recent efforts, namely ‘Chukwu agozi go zi’ and ‘Bank Alert’ are noteworthy examples, we have the production genius that is Tunex to thank for them. I mean, Tunex’s taste in hip hop instrumentation always amazes me. His array of. interpolation and synthesized chops fully accentuate Illy’s boastful declarations. I really wish to hear more rappers jump on his beat, he has a special gift in crafting dope sounds.
ILLY GATI:7057, the penultimate studio offering from Oga Boss is home to some of the most pristine production that will grace your ears. Sess is more than a problem on two standout tracks, he’s the Riemann Hypothesis of production and we have ‘Ayakata’ as proof, Tunex is responsible for crafting the radio success that is ‘Jawon laya’, infact the entire body work of the project is an ultimate collection of music with beautiful instrumentals.
It’s definitely an amazing rap album, one could call the best mainstream Nigeria offering since Reminisce’s last album. While Ill bliss is not entirely the fiercest lyricist on a roll (Although he actually won the 2016 Headies award for ‘Lyricist on a roll’ *smiles*), he always finds a way not to disappoint us when he’s hooked on a solid instrumental.There is the Yung Tite’s calm and gracious strings on ‘A different Kind of war’, which takes you to another dimension entirely *smiles* before hitting the Kezyklef produced Fireworks, a sound for ages. We could also roll back the years a bit to an awesome Phyno and Naeto — C assisted ‘Hustler’s Footsteps’ and the laudable ‘Anama chikwanu’ both produced by yours faithfully Phyno.’
On the other hand, while he singlehandedly aided the rebirth of jazz fused, bass heavy and thumping instrumentals made by Justice League and The Inkredibles, Rick Ross became a household name on the back of some heavy sounds, with ‘Hustling’, leading the way,the Runners produced anthem is a stark reminiscent of mafioso rap, and is a gift to anyone in love with that niche in rap music.
Just like Illbliss, he’s one of the rappers who share great ear for beats in his terrain, that even the simple beats are classy. From the start, you could see he had a very bright future in the coming years. We will also not forget the haunting synths of the Inkredibles in ‘Mafia music’ which always puts you in a spell to turn up the volume, nor the richter scale ruining drops of Lex Luger on BMF, which introduced Lex’s sound to the mainstream despite initially producing Hard In The Paint for Waka Flocka Flame. The BMF beat, like Mustard and Nasty & LVM ratchet music which accentuated Hiphop for a short but defined era, it got you the listener feeling like a Boss. All these lead to the Beat Bully’s inter galactic ‘Stay Scheming’.
Ross’ entire discography is flooded with songs that display thumping instrumentals. J.U.S.T.I.C.E League further displayed their variable heroics on ‘I’m not a star’ while K.E on the track instrumentation definitely hid the devil on ‘Devil is a lie’. I’m sure a lot of us wouldn’t hold back still when the G5kid produced ‘Hold me Back’ comes on while pulling out a ‘9 Piece’, another Lexington Luger masterclass. Forgive me, i got caught up in the moment, couldn’t help but mention more *smiles* .
Rozay’s latest effort Rather You Than Me, also houses some thrilling instrumentals, Young Coke’s experiment on the Young thug and Wale assisted ‘Trap trap trap’ is something else, and Beat Billionaires’ ‘Dead Presidents’ is just hardcore! Although I am very quick to ignore Future’s verse.*smiles*
Asides their own ear for beats, these guys showcase the unique beat making skill set of their producers and help elevate their careers. Ill bliss has done this with Phyno, Tunex and Kezyklef, to mention a few and Ross has done this with simply a lot of producers but none more than J.U.S.T.I.C.E League and The Inkredibles which he’s their respective biggest and most regular client as well as Lex Luger who he introduced to the mainstream.
In a world of good competition, with the varying standards of their respective terrains, the most underrated trait they share is their Uncanny ability to disembody slow beats in their respective terrains unlike no one else, in my humbled opinion.
It is true that these two heavy duty deities are from different societies, we can’t help but admire and appreciate their good ears and taste for stunning instrumentals and other striking traits. Sometimes we want to get past the lyrics of our favorite rappers and savor the beats, fill our ears with the other component present that supports the vocals effortlessly. We just want to appreciate them.
There’s a saying that God created people in doubles. Maybe they don’t quite share striking facial resemblance, they make up in other traits that even some similarly creative twins don’t share. For one however, while Ross is an American rap legend, Ill bliss is very underrated in Nigeria.
Nevertheless, we can definitely look to savor more distinct instrumentals from this duo. We’ve been loving it so far. At least I know, I’ve been.
By Duminiyk for UrbanCentral
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