THE GUY by M.I Abaga || Cementing his place as Africa's best? || Album Review

The Guy is the 7th solo studio album by the self acclaimed African Rapper number 1. M. I Abaga is Nigerian Rapper, musician, producer, song writer and an Mcee. He first burst onto the scene in 2008. Since then the Incredible Music boss has been one of the most successful rappers in Africa, best known for his punchlines, wordplay and story telling prowess. M. I Abaga is The Guy.

The album opened up with the album title track The Guy with the Rapper diving in deep to introduce himself. Setting the template for what's to come in the rest of the album. From referencing God's goodness to setting the record straight in case anyone had forgotten that he's the best in the game while hinting that he's past his beef days with other rappers in the country. "I'm a five-star general in the rap game, I've done my thing/ Top of the rap game in three different decades, call man king" he boasted.

The guy is followed by a response to all the hatred he's been getting from other rappers overtime. The Hate is a track rich in punches like a traditional diss track but devoid of the usual name calling. It's more of an open ended response to everyone who's ever harbored or is harboring any form of hate for him. The Rapper goes on narrating his importance to the game as the way maker, while warning the young boys to learn the necessary respect for elders.

If you're not the guy and you lack respect, then you're not worthy to stand on the same grounds with the big boys. That's the boot Bigger fills. Here M. I sought the help of renowned American Rapper Nas along with rapper/afro sensation Olamide. Here M turns on his big daddy side, going philosophical, lending out credible nuggets on how to stay grounded and climb the ladder of success. Nas being Nas, was just Nas. He reminded us of why he's one of the greatest ever, while Olamide's abilities on the hook brought about calm waters to the billows of the guy and the hate, which is where the groove of the album is turned on.

Soft Life featuring Lord Vino is more of a lighterhearted and satirical reference to the need to make money. "your knack go long, your vex go drop/ your mess(fart) go nice, you chest go pop" M raps in an attempt to encourage the average man by outlining the benefits of making money. This filters in Front door which features Duncan Mighty which is just a love interlude.

Crazy utilizes the pure and silky voice of Ossi Grace as M goes in on to talk about the irony of toxic love and the intolerance syndrome that's raving on social media. Just like on Front door, M returns with another love rendition on The Love Song, this time around with help from Wandecoal on the hook. This is more like an introduction to M's love, at least in his own words. At this point it is necessary to states that M recently got married which could be said to be the motivation for the next track.

The Inside sees M go raving about the woman in his life with some nice wordplay and a weave of sweet sounding flows. This is supplemented by the Cavememen and Phyno's palm wine induced igbo highlife flavor. And kudos to masterkraft for the production. I'd say, this is my favorite track on the project. To end the love/lust induced tracks is Daddy which features Chillz. Daddy is simply a sugar daddy-esque rendition with M telling his play toy how much he loves her wiggle and bouncing and for to 'do it for daddy'.

Soldier is a response to another seemingly avoided societal ill which has to do with the neglect and inadvertent radicalization of the boy child, who's raised to be emotionless, but expected to not to be heartless. This is best captured in the line "they tell us boys don't cry, but they don't tell us why/ so when tears start to fill up my eyes, I wanna hide". The message here being that's its okay to be vulnerable as a man.

Next on the line is Oil featuring afro sensation BNXN. Oil is a lamentation by M asking God why he's constantly persecuted and betrayed while also having an underlying tone of a 'hustle anthem'. The position of this track is quite conspicuous as the next and last track is the family reunion of the erstwhile Choc bois.

On More Life which features M's brother Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince, M goes in bragging about how big he's been all through his career, while referencing having a good time with his guys. "no matter how black your heart, you can't stop this light" M boasts on a melodious beat of....... and kicks. Jaga picked the baton and goes on a bragging session of his own about how they were having fun with drinks and smokes while recording the song. It seems there's nothing that has Jagz and M's name on it that can be bad, and it is a befitting way to end the album.

The Guy album is a wonderful work of art by M.I Abaga that rids of any doubt about his stand as the greatest from Nigeria and arguably the greatest from Africa. The arrangement of songs lends symphony to the hard-to-groovy nature of the album and the choice of Chopstix as the producer helps fulfill that purpose.

Generally I was expecting heavy hip hop inclined beats with M wrecking them with hot bars and punchlines, so I was surprised at the outcome but not disappointed. M said he prays the album reaches no1 on the charts, so that explains why he went groovy, as most Nigerians don't really appreciate the old rap genre.

I believe to better appreciate this album, one needs to track M's evolution from the Yxng Denzel album, through Judah, The Live Report and the Cyphers. The hate, backlash, self evaluation and eventual redemption culminated in this album, as well as his recent engagement.

The Guy has this groovy, liberated and lighthearted feel to it that has been lacking in M's recent works. It's like a redemption to the M of 2008 that raised our consciousness to the beauty of Rhythm and Poetry.

Here's the link to stream The Guy

Verdict : 8.5/10

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