eLDee, Big Boy (2008)

First things first, I was really disappointed with the CD and the packaging (i.e. they were really cheap). It not right that a CD from a Big Boy like elDee should be sounding like a damn boeing jet about to take off… I was afraid it would explode in my drive and that’s not the kind of feeling any musician should target. So it didn’t, but I ripped it to my drive just in case and its never going back in.

Eldee’s come a long way and you can not talk about the history of Hip Hop in Nigeria without mentioning his name, on the business side, he’s responsible for a lot of the opportunities all these young cats have nowadays and as far as is known is responsible for developing the current model the music industry uses. Creatively also he showed Nigerians that we too can do music without simply jacking foreign beats and created a distinct sound and niche. When you hear an elDee produced track you know. I don’t know much about the history of this album or what mind frame he was in so my only reference are his previous works.

INTRO
This autotune crap is getting really old now. Can someone please come up with something new everyone can copy… Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?? He pretty much sets the tone for what to expect on the album with this track, i.e. he’s doing it for the check. I hope its still as good otherwise that check will likely by missing a significant number of 0′s

BOSI GBANGBA
I definitely understand the “for the check part”. Not bad though. elDee never boxed himself in like some artists, he simply makes music. Certified naija club banger.

WAMBI NA
More autotune mess. Eldee can sing so I wonder why he insists on doing this to himself.

BIG BOY
Straight fire. Seems his time in ATL was well spent. I swear he must have written Olu Maintain’s rhymes and wow i think Del just killed eldee on this track…“tear rubber everything… well almost everything” Some classic lines in this track…

GO
So some dumb b*tch couldnt be smart enough to be a gold digger.

EVOLUTION (BEAUTIFUL THINGS)
OMG this is too much gayness for one track… Is this supposed to be deep or something? I Go Yarn was deep this on the otherhand is just gay.

MAMA
Touching… but I’ve heard much better, especially for mums…

REWIND
Cheap southern rap imitation. I see it’s produced by Dokta Frabz, whats was this? His throwaway material?

GO (REMIX)
Damn who was this broad? Marginally less gay thanks to Dokta Frabz. Waste of a good track. Coulda been so much more… ooh the possibilities…

BIG BOY (RAP REMIX)

Iceberg Slim sounds like a slightly retarded Jay-Z (that’s not necessarily bad ), Rukus has done way better than this and Proto who I thought was gonna save the day disappoints, I would be impressed if Rugged Man came up with these lyrics but not on an Eldee track called “Big Boys” This should have been called “Big Clowns: the bastard child of Big Boys” Even Olu Maintain outclassed these guys on the original…

I KNOW BAD PEOPLE
He should have listened… the gayness of this album is unbefitting of the champion…
And he says it himself “I used to spit fire…”

PROFESSIONAL

wtf? No. Seriously WTF????

ONE IN A MILLION
Not bad at all… But then I’m not sure if its just because I was so scandalized by the tracks before… Only question now is wtf was that verse Proto did on big boy? Think about that while I ponder the remaining mysteries of the universe…

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m extremely disappointed with eLDee and this album perhaps if he was due to go to jail like T.I. he’ll step up again because it’s so obvious he has lost that hunger that is usually responsible for good music. My opinion is that he needed some extra cash so he picked out a couple of tracks from his archive, tossed in one or two well thought out and produced tracks and then released it. I tossed it out the window but every album has fans. I’ll be waiting for his next album.

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS

BOSI GBANGBA, BIG BOY, ONE IN A MILLION

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