YXNG DXNZL IS M.I’S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO VETERAN STATUS

I remember the girl snatching the black leather jacket from his loosened grasp the moment he took it off, I am unsure on whether he was going to throw it into the crowd or if he was about to beckon towards a member of his team to come and get it.

He however let her have it and she couldn't disguise her excitement. I was there for the music - I wasn't prepared for the overt display of star power.

It was April 2010, I remember the brief intermission to let us know that Da Grin -who he called his Brother - had just passed on.

I remember the fanfare that preceded his arrival, the seesaw of expectations - will he or won't he come through to headline the show?

Discussions on M.I's discography and placement in the pantheon of rappers often results in folks taking positions at opposing sides of Hip-Hop's Berlin wall.

As the ramblings rage and we exchange opinions - or force them down each other's throats - the walls come down and we realize that - as an artist - M.I is all the different iterations that we imagine and that is what makes him who he is.

Witnessing a display of star power or finding oneself in the trenches during an argument about his artistry often creates a smoke screen that futher hinders the already foggy outside-looking-in perspective that leaves us far removed from the observable fact that before anything, even before he is M.I, he is Jude Abaga, a human being and the signs as to his humanity shine brightest on A Study on Self Worth:Yxng Dxnzl.

Despite being a journey through a highway of emotions, perspectives shift throughout Yxng Dxnzl.

However, constant underlying themes reoccur, particularly that of self-doubt and self depreciation all to staggering degrees, on 'Last Night I Had a Dream About a Hummingbird’.

The listener plays fly on the wall to the soliloquy of a character, her words pan out like an entry into a diary, just as pity begins to set in the rapping starts an immediate correlation is drawn between the insecurities expressed by the lady and the titular hummingbird.

Caught in it's lowest ebb, the hummingbird, serves as a metaphor for being stuck in a rut of despair and depression, where regardless of the good inherent, one is solely focused on the negatives.

Our hummingbird, despite being capable of flight is full of pity in a cage, singing pretty songs, failing to realize that freedom is some flaps away as the "the door to your cages has been broken for ages".

While discussions surrounding humans, their emotions and behaviors often toe the line of those manifested as virtues and the acceptable, Yxng Dxnzl is all encompassing.

As the album progresses we encounter "You Rappers Should Fix Up Your Lives" the first single from the album, which is dipped in lordly conceitedness, met with a chorus of equally disapproving and welcoming cheers.

The best part is, this song has aged way better than anyone thought it would. The concerns he expressed are now as patent as Iya Hafusa's coconut rice in Oyingbo.

"Another thing! Do not be a Groupie" is cut from the same cloth as YRSFUYL and as a pair they represent the haughtiest points of the album.

The writing on the album is a collage of the various styles we have seen from M.I Abaga, echoing his growth across the years, but it is pertinent to state that where Yxng Dxnzl flails repeatedly is the constant presence of poorly crafted and rendered lyrics.

One cannot help but notice how played out references are sprinkled about the album, rappers should be retiring the Clark Kent/booth/Superman lines.

Asides that, while the album is deep with underlying themes for a growing human being, the themes sometimes seem thought up than organic.

The hummingbird chatter seems more conceptual to caress the depth-feel of the album, than the organic construction of a mind, even one high on sativa.

It also didn't help that he rhymes, "pleasure, adventure...", a very cliche rap style.

There’s also a dismally executed critically homophone to name a few. Together, they bog down the overall quality of the album.

However when Yxng Dxnzl flies it soars, "Stop! Never Second Guess Yourself" is the runway and M.I’s brilliant use of the now ubiquitous couplet flow to begin the song is when the landing gears are retracted.

The chopping and screwing that appears midway into the track is a sign that we are in flight mode and Cina Soul is our effective air hostess.

The motivational chest bump that the track purports to be is fully captured in her crooning "Said you don't need them, Don't need them don't need them/To validate yourself."

The topical discussions on Yxng Dxnzl are hemmed together by an interview that runs through the album serving as intro and outro at specific instances.

It immediately echoes tidbits of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly and DAMN in parts, with Jay Z's 4:44 in tow.

To emphasize the above is to limit interpretations available, asHip-Hop albums exist for skits and interludes, I enjoyed the album more when I thought of it as characters in a play breaking the fourth wall.

M.I Abaga is at his most relaxed on "You Are Like Melody, My Heart Skips A Beat", perhaps the topic of love is enough to keep him centered and deliver some of the best raps on the project.

One thing is sure though, the Lorraine Chia sample was used to perfection.

Staying true to it’s undulating motif, the stench of paranoia returns on "+-" to rid the love butterflies sprung by the previous track.

Odunsi, lamenting that "wicked person dey kiss Bible too" is cynicism only matched by Lady Donli warbling "Pray they never find us. Pray they ain't behind us."

As the album closes out, the listener begins to get a picture that these songs are all indicative of thoughts as they play in the head of the musician.

"I believe in you, You should too, Believe in you" is a head rattling instrumental that is a clear spin-off from Drake’s "WORST BEHAVIOR", what it lacks in originality it makes up for by way of bravado and cadence.

The lofty heights that one swells to is immediately reversed when the interlude hits, as we are exposed to a man who is struggling to come to terms with growing up, is the struggle a cause of the spiral we are told about first hand on "The Self Evaluation of Yxng Dxnzl"?.

It is difficult to dissect the confessions on the closest thing to a titular track, but it is easier to relate with as a tale of smiling for the camera and concealing discontent, it is sure to resonate with every living human albeit to varying degrees.

At the closing stage is where the album is at its strongest and drawing a direct line from Paybac’s The Biggest Tree to Boogey’s Nouveau Niveau, a constant theme in the best Nigerian Hip-Hop releases this year has been disillusionment and addiction to unhealthy coping mechanisms.

The torment on M.I and Niyola’s voices is palpable as they harmonize the terse bridge "So let me bathe in the water" as if calling to a higher power for cleansing.

It seems only right by God that M.I and Tay Iwar dovetail twice to perfection on this album.

On either side of the collaborations we have the album opener and the closer - the latter expertly detailing the ignorance around how mental health issues are handled in the Nigerian society.

Tay’s vocals are arguably the most peaceful sounding in the industry right now and the most discernable since BOJ - but where BOJ is raspy with it, Tay is like a Yogi in his approach hitting those notes with the same flair that Dhalsim throws those hands, making the difficult look and sound easy.

As the last track on his 4th Solo album fades out, you get the sense that M.I Abaga will be here for a long time, his abilities may not be as awe inducing as when we first heard him on Safe, but his overall artistry and ability to make music has grown in leaps and bounds.

Is this M.I's best or greatest body of work?

Though it seems like yesterday, it's been 10 years since he burst onto the scene, and with this album, we are witnesses to a veteran rapper who may have rolled the years to deliver his best studio album.

Yxng Dxnzl houses tracks that will find itself in the playlists of Hip-Hop lovers, there's a couple for those who worship the Illegal Music installments.

Those not catered to will still find this album worth some spins, there’s somebody to be discovered within these songs, as a wise man exclaimed 10 years ago "I just want you to feel me/ the real me, I’m still me, so let’s go."

Is this M.I's best album? It's definitely arguable. Talk About It is a cultural classic for the terrain it was released, but the throngs of genuine, topic driven and thematically topical rap are more inherent on Yxng Dxnzl.

For some, it's MI2 which has a song for every kind of Nigerian - not just Hip-Hop lovers. Illegal Music series might be M.I at his creative best, but originality will fail them in the conversation of 'best ever'.

Thus, we are left with Yxng Dxnzl, an album that will transform the entire conversation about mainstream Nigerian rap - albeit not new in the global context.

It was risky, but it's paid off. Like it or not, the greatest rap albums will forever be endorsed on the concurrence of relatable themes, topical articulation, impeccable production, uniqueness to the time released and correlation to the artiste's life at the time of release.

Sometimes, some albums are not trash, there's just a disconnect with what an artiste "should" be making. It might be too early to call Yxng Dxnzl his greatest album, but we can definitely call it his best and most complete body of work.

For impact, Talk About It is a cultural milestone and staple, that breathed life into Nigerian mainstream Hip-Hop -post Ruggedy Baba.

For everything that makes great rap albums and true classics - not products of the appropriated word, Yxng Dxnzl is going to age impeccably. It is not just rap, it is music.

Urban Central Evaluation

Production: 3/4

Lyrics, Content and Depth: 3/4

Shelf Life and Influence: 4/4

Novelty: 3/4

Enjoyability: 3/4

Total: 16/20

Verdict: Tier 1: #StadiumSound

By Nico for Urban Central, Tweets @WordsbyAG

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