Of all the Wernono Crew affiliates, Ngashville pays the most attention to his individual debut album, peppering it with well thought through radio-friendly singles, roping in a good number of artists on clever collaborations and tossing in creative music videos. All the strategy boxes are “checked” - he obviously put in some thought into the process, and that must be applauded. Throw in the fact that at very pocket-friendly prices, the CD packet comes with a bonus DVD, and this artist is hard to ignore.
Looking at the music, the record really is a case of the good, the bad and the (almost) ugly. Where the record shines, it cannot be dimmed. The good moments, and there are plenty of them, shine very brightly. Take Fanana Naye, for instance. Featuring Dunco and Ba Mdogo, it’s one sweet jam. An up-tempo jam very much in the mould of Daddy Owen’s Kapungala sounds, when it breaks out into sugary sweet Lingala towards the end, prepare to jig.
And the bar isn’t lowered any on radio singles such as Kaza Mwendo or Badilisha. The former is a highly memorable Dr. Eddie-produced jam that features two of Gospel’s finest currently at the top of their game – Daddy Owen and Dunco. The very colorful accompanying music video (from Sisimka Productions) is an added bonus. Rhyme-X producer Gittx proves his hit-making status with Badilisha, that also features long lost Gospel Fathers’ Ken. The hook is likely to stick in your head.
Amenibadilisha (badilisha), amenifanya upya (fanya upya)
Amenipa ushindi (ushindi), Amenipa uwezo (uwezo)
Yet if there’s one track that proves Ngashville’s got smarts, its Stronger. It’s a Gospel cypher (rap song without a hook) a-la Cross Movement that will no doubt leave artists green with envy, asking themselves “Why didn’t I think of that first?” Check out the who’s who - Addvoket, Michelle, Shem, LC, Astar, and Holy Dave. Another creative music video and the brother’s stocks are rising!
Other bright moments include the inspiring clean cut hip-hop track Hope, together with its vocoder-laced chorus, and the more than decent Yesu Pekee.
 Still, the album does have moments of detour, and a few songs you are likely to listen to that you wish you hadn’t. Ngashville’s flow isn’t the tightest on tracks like Hossana and Choices, the latter featuring LC.
And the logic of featuring Dunco on so many of the album’s hooks must really be questioned. As brilliant as he is, he has a distinct signature sound, and it carries through a lot of the record. By and large the album straddles clean hip-hop and radio-ready pop sounds, but ends up offering little in the way of variety. Yet even on Anywhere (featuring the highly rated Wernono affiliate Shem), when chorus duties are handled by others, poor chorus execution near sinks the song.
Some may see his huge reliance on collaborative efforts with numerous artists as his Achilles heel. Yet it may very well be his stroke of genius. On this, his first solo album, he brings in good credible names and places all of them in their area of strength. And with production duties well shared between Dr. Eddie, Bruno of Lodwar Studios and Gittx, the end product is an album that has its fair share of good material to definitely make it worth the purchase.
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» 7 Comments
1"Huh?"
at Thursday, 08 October 2009 15:50
Ok, maybe I digress, but is he wearing a top that has a skull pierced through with a sword??
2"Me liky"
at Friday, 09 October 2009 21:34
It an honest project from sum1 who tha world shuld pay attention 2
3"choices,fanana naye,"
at Wednesday, 14 October 2009 09:12
one of the hottest gospel jams released this year,not forgetting stronger ,big up ngashville
4Comment
at Thursday, 15 October 2009 11:17
Iro 've jus noticed that....hmmmm !!!
5"sir"
at Wednesday, 04 November 2009 20:32
great listening something for all moods true genius
6Comment
at Friday, 12 March 2010 12:57
The Album is great, i have listened to all the tracks and its a change from the usual gospel, its an album to have. I particularly like choices, Hope and the watasema song. They rock! May Gos work his way through this album.
7Comment
at Tuesday, 25 May 2010 19:20
this album is da bomb!!! i listen to it all the time . i love track like "choices,fanana naye. Yesu pekee,hosana" they just rock.man Congrats!!!
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