Who do you know to receive massive cosigns from Nigerian music royalty in Wizkid, Wande Coal and Olamide in one project? Yet stand his ground and not get washed on any track? If your answer is in the line of BNXN fka Buju, then you are correct! In his sophomore project—Bad Since ‘97—BNXN stays true to his midtempo Afropop sound.
Unlike his debut project—“Sorry I’m Late”—BNXN seemed to have run out of patience with experimenting with various sounds as heard on “Kilometer” and “Ogechukwu” which saw him step out of his comfort zone sonically, but one thing he does on a grander scale is the polishing of his ripping songwriting abilities and the self-belief in his musical prowess to produce some of the best Afropop records ever heard by man. “Right now, I’m in my bag, lyrically and musically. The storytelling is 100 per cent better now—the delivery, the flow and everything. It is all well-put-together and the sound now is so mature, so confident. That is the stage I’m playing at.”, He gallantly relates to Apple Music.
Bad Since ’97 centres on self-belief with BNXN using every open avenue to prove why he is one of the best singer-songwriters in the Afropop scene and would love to be placed above his contemporaries (if there was any reason to pitch him against them). That braggadocious notion is one-hundred per cent the motivation behind BNXN’s second verse on the penultimate track, Modupe, when he said: “Why I dey flex? Yes / And I put my right hand on my chest, yes / By the grace of God mehn I’m the best, yes”.
BNXN and Wizkid ride the sombre drums, yielding a soulful connection which birthed the beautiful Many Ways; the joyous ambience on Kenkele can be felt as he and Wande Coal match sonically. Olamide’s verse on Modupe is a subtle reminder as to why he is highly revered and BNXN had the perfect verses to keep the track afloat.