A Review Of AYÜÜNIVERSE
The recent emergence of the alte community in Nigeria has propelled quite a number of young and talented musicians and producers alike into relative limelight and prominence. The DIY culture and mutual support which a lot of these artistes encourage and give has allowed a good number of them to come into the public eye without the backing of any major label. While it is true that a lot of these artistes are generally spread across the country, it is undeniable that the city of Lagos and Abuja is home to some of the finest and most prominent young talents in the country with Ayüü, Apex Village member and an Abuja based rapper, singer and songwriter being one of the most notable.
After the release of three EP’s in the space of two years, Ayüü is back after a year with his debut mixtape, AYÜÜNIVERSE. From the title and the rollout, which was great by the way, it was evident AYÜÜNIVERSE was going to be quite thematic. Not only did he have the collaborators on this project announce their involvement by activating their comic superhero characters on their various social media pages, he also had their characters assembled like the avengers with him at the forefront on an alternate cover art for the project. One thing was clear going into this project, Ayüü who had shown bits and pieces of himself in his previous works was ready to show his fans and listeners alike a whole universe. This, however, wasn’t the case.
Speaking of titles, good rollouts and thematic projects, Lady Donli, a friend and contemporary of Ayüü also released her full-length album, Enjoy Your Life sometime in 2019. While Lady Donli might have had one of the best rollouts and themes for her album, she followed through with the music which was befitting for the theme of the album and was undeniably exquisite. Same however cannot be said for Ayüü, as the music on AYÜÜNIVERSE sounds painfully lacklustre and unoriginal.
On Cocaine, Ayüü sounds like he’s trying to do his best impression of Santi. Not only is the flow and style of singing so similar to Santi’s, but he also does this on a beat that sounds like a total rip-off of Santi’s DSM. Its almost as if the producer took the acoustic strings at the beginning of DSM, slowed down the tempo and slapped some drums on it. Genio Bambino will not be pleased. On Addiction, Ayüü sounds like he’s caught in two minds as he’s unsure of the direction he wants to take the song. The song starts off like a record that would pop off in Carribean clubs and parties but then halfway into the song, it loses most of its momentum and begins to sound like an R’n’B song. EESKAY doesn’t do much in trying to save the song as he delivers a pretty flat verse. Also, understandably, because of the nature of the song, it is expected that it contains raunchy lyrics, however, lyrics like “mama say she wants her toes sucked/i”m addicted and I won’t stop” doesn’t exactly help the course of the song.
With the aforementioned young and talented artistes emerging from all around the country, one of the several things that make these artistes stand out is their refreshing sound and uniqueness. In a country where a large percentage of the music industry is making very similar music, these artistes are veering and daring to do something different. On AYÜÜNIVERSE however, Ayüü is far from daring. It feels like he just takes the formula of other artistes and tries to make a song out of it. On Accra, Ayüü sings on a beat that sounds like it was gotten from a “Mr Eazi type beat” google search on the internet. While the production on AYÜÜNIVERSE isn’t exactly great, Ayüü doesn’t particularly flourish in the writing department either. On Accra, Ayüü sings “Oh can’t you tell it’s only half amazing that’s why I put my soul in my own songs”. However, for most of the album, Ayüü doesn’t sound like he’s putting any effort in his writing, not to talk of his soul. His lyrics, for the most part, are painfully vapid and bland.
The few instances where Ayüü isn’t trying to sound like someone else provides standouts. On Sosad, he spills his emotions over smooth production from DOZ. He’s at his most vulnerable here as his words sound genuine and relatable. On the lead single, Gawu which samples Magic System’s Premier Gaou he serves up an infectious hook and flows effortlessly on a bouncy beat produced by Trillxoe & Tobay.
Ayüü is a talented artiste, there is no doubt about this. He has shown glimpses of his talent on his previous works and even on this project, he, however, lacks originality and identity. For a large part of AYÜÜNIVERSE, Ayuu sounds like he’s trying to latch on to styles and sounds of other artistes. Sadly, it isn’t even a case of trying to display versatility, it’s more of a jack of all trade, master of none scenario. He sifts through a couple of genres on this project, but for the most part, he doesn’t sound at home on any of them. AYÜÜNIVERSE promises so much but delivers so little. It’s an album that promises to transport you to another universe but it has so many pitstops you never reach your destination.
