It is what it is or so they say, talent is not just a gift or calling, it’s a craft one must hone to perfection, making it distinct, so that no matter where say a voice is heard over the radio, TV or web, you know who it is, and Ohdichi’s one such talent whose singing ability and range is for lack of a better choice of words, astounding.

She got it, forget the looks*though she’s cute, i won’t lie*, from Neo-Soul, Soul and Hip Hop, she sings it as though she’s speaking one on one to any person who gives just a tad bit of their time to listen to her belt it like she’s on a mission.

Born to Nigerian Parents, Ohdichi is a 1st generation Nigerian/American diva of Ibo descent, currently residing in LA, where she was born and bred, she’s cut from the same cloth for me as Toni Braxton, Sade Adu, Anita Baker et el. Talent wise she’s off the richter scale, however what’s amazing about her is that she didn’t just sit back and bask in the “am gifted, hence am a diva attitude”, she worked hard at perfecting this talent, finding her self, her range and believe me, hearing her sing is a testimony to her work as a perfectionist.

Her page on reverbnation http://www.reverbnation.com/ohdichi, has a list of songs using well known beats such as Those used by the Roots and Eva Laroux*the ones that were obvious to me* with tracks such as “I Bought A Smile”, “Speed It Up”, “It’s Time”, “I Can’t Breath”, “I Can Get By”*My Fav*, “Alright”, Oh Me Oh My”, “Standing Still”, “Life Is Too Short”, “Accident Of Love”, “It’s Time”, “Show You”, Ohdichinma unleashes an array of soft/subtle and at times bold inflections of her emotions giving her vocals a distinct feel to it, at 1st listen one would be forgiven to mistake her for any of her aforementioned Heroines, but the more you hear her sing, the stronger the urge to sit back, relax and absorb all the sweet serenade coming out from her is “soothing”.

Now will someone bring this gurl back home, hook her up with Don Jazzy, Jesse Jagz, Kraft, ID Cabasa and see her be the star, she was born to be, for once i do so strongly believe that in her, we’ve found our true muse, she’s meant for greatness and Naija is the very platform she needs to soar to those heights beyond even her wildest dreams.

This is a quick overview of Dare Art Alade’s last album; Un.DAREY.ted. A more detailed including track by track review will be coming up soon.

I admire Dare Art Alade. One does not need to listen to the album a million times to be aware of the hard work that went into its making. He has definitely worked so much on his singing since his last album and it has clearly paid off on his performance in un.DAREY.ted. His singing is much more confident, mature; and the singing gymnastics, simpler and better delivered. The feat could not have been achieved without hard work; only, I wished he had managed to make it all appear falsely easy, natural. His singing keeps hitting me from my speakers, powerful, bold and determined and I cannot but be totally soaked in the effort. I am glad he, at least, is making a serious effort to make music, unlike many…no, millions who now claim to have taken to music in today’s Nigeria.

Dare definitely stands out. However, if he is underrated, there might be a good reason for it. If I underrate him, I probably have good reason for it. It may however not be deserved. Dare needs to define himself musically. I would love to see him do so. There’s so much of him he appears not to be tapping into just yet! All the effort seems to be directed at tapping into some icons he really appreciates. That is good. It helps to develop musically but then, I believe there is always a time to look genuinely inwards- for self definition. For Dare, that should have been before un.DAREY.ted, not that it is now too late. Dare, we love you but then, where, really are you? True, you can sing juju, fuji, apala, R n’ b, jazz or whatever; it’s the result of hard work but to do that convincingly as self is another matter. Also, too much caution in singing helps to dull the sound, kill conviction. I blame a lot of the lack of conviction on the cautious singing. Yes, there’s an evident need, pressure to sing well but there’s also a need for a let go. Also, I am not sure being underrated should be celebrated. It should be fought…and defeated! Dare is yet to arrive. His being underrated is definitely undeserved if he hasn’t more to offer. I am waiting. I want to see more. We would be happy to see more.

Isn’t orchestration the use of orchestra instruments to create desired musical effects? From that perspective, there was definitely no orchestration in the entire album; not one orchestra instrument was used. Was confusion intended when the album sleeves were made to read “All tracks orchestrated in Nigeria by Tee-Y Mix…”? The album was definitely well produced. Tee-Y Mix did a good job producing, interpreting the songs; and the mixing was well done too, better than most works coming from Nigerian artistes. Cobhams Asuquo didn’t do a bad job either, on those two tracks.

If you haven’t seen his videos for this album, here they are in the order of release. Apparently, there is some sort of story being told across all three. In order, Not The Girl, More, No Stars. And don’t you forget to come back for the full album review!

Tonight by Amani

Estilo by Lizha James

Heartbeat by Nneka

Ingoma by Thandiswa Mazwai

Plenty Plenty by The Dream (couldn’t find a video. If you got it, drop a link in the comments)
Dominoes by Brian Temba
Heartbeat by Nneka
Khuli by Tswak Stik’em
Big Boi Anthem by Jay Ru
I Want You Back by XOD

Kini Big Deal by Naeto C

Uthini Ngo Pro by Pro

Judgement by Bufalo Souljah

Mpitse by Hip Hop Panstula (HHP)

Not The Girl by Darey

I Want You Back by XOD