Listen to Caribbean singer Tigua’s debut album inspired by Africa’s busiest city: ‘This Is Lagos’
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On June 24, Tigua released his debut project, ‘This Is Lagos’. Launching the ten-track effort with a phone call to a friend (‘Lagos’), the growing artist talks about heading to the thriving West African city to hustle and promote his music. In detail, the singer details the flight time, the plans with management and his agent Bayo, and last but not least, the ladies. On ‘Uptown Lover’, the Jamaica-born artist with a derived from the country he grew up in, sings about good love and character and compares the woman to music.
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My favourite tracks are ‘You’ featuring Ladé for the inquisitive songwriting and slow beat, inviting its listeners to feel the deep emotions it describes.
Ever felt like you were warring with an opp in the scorching heat? My second selection ‘No Beef’ is what I imagine how those rattling moments feel and sound. Over the adrenaline-pumping uptempo Drill production, Tigua sings about his guys, who may live on the dark side and harm people when needed. As described by the artist, they do not play around. Adding to the song, the featured artist Pharaoh 47 croons about sounding like he’s preaching, multiple blessings, the urge to have someone believe him and reveals how to find him when needed. ‘No Beef’ starts like one of my favourite Pop Smoke songs.
Next up, ‘Niggy Bounce’ is a fast-paced track exhibiting traditional Jamaican Dancehall song styling and rhythms with toasting.
Showing how he flows over Nigerian-baked Amapiano production, popularised by artists like Asake and several others, the artists sing about what they came to do, and that’s faaji or party like the song’s title suggests. ‘Jaiye’ means “to enjoy life; to live life.” The featured artist, Rvenio, is a fresh French-speaking Ivorian/Togolese recording artist making Afropop music through an independent label, Legacy Record.
No one in this world could say when my third favourite ‘Expensive Sh!t’ started they didn’t think about it or “hear” Wizkid. Nigeria’s fast-rising artist—Tha Boy Myles—clears the road with his stellar performance on the song named after Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti‘s classic track with over nine million streams on Spotify.
On the last track ‘Dynamite (Tribute)’, Tigua ends his varied work with notes about having patience, the long road to the top, moments of weakness, and crediting his source of motivation. There’s nothing like having your parent as your life’s guidance. I can relate to the emotionally charged heart-felt song made for his father, who has passed away. Your eyes might get wet.
