Album Review

Artiste - Iyanya
Album Title - My Story
With so much pressure these days on artistes to hit it big with their first albums, it is not surprising that young artistes and producers would look to proven styles and artistes for inspiration. It appears as if Iyanya wants to be everything to everyone. He makes recognizable sounds and tap into established fan bases which is not a bad way to approach a career. _Without question, Iyanya is talented. If he isn’t, he would not have emerged winner of MTN Project Fame a couple of years ago but it actually takes more than talent to come up with a good album. It takes real skill to create a song in a recognized style and nail all the things that make the style great while avoiding sounding like a mere parody.
Iyanya has released an album that will give him an opportunity to either swim or sink on his own. We understand it’s a tough task of transition from teen heartthrob to a full-fledged R&B or Pop star. Luckily, he has a firm grasp on the importance and delivery of lead singles, Love Truly and Shaye but he still has plenty of work to do when creating a full album.
The whole album is made of 14 tracks and about one hour total listening. It favoures collaborations from MI, Zeez and Bokwilla, Faze and Ugly. The album has the production imprints of K-Solo, OJB, Wazz Beatz , ID Cabasa and TY Mix who actually produced 50% of the album._The album opens with Gbadun You, a soul touching hip hop song over an upbeat beat featuring MI and followed by a more contemporary afro hip hop song titled Wise Up. In as much as Inyanya is trying his hands on different genres of music, sampling so many others, he still has few slower cuts that actually leave indelible impression of emotional gush on one’s mind. Such tracks are Forever, Love You and Love Truly. He shared the mic with Faze on No Time and Ugly on Gongon. The remix of Love You Truly with Bokwilla was a good attempt. Bokwilla actually justified himself as dancehall act of repute that knows his onions in that genre of music.
Inyanya was probably so carried away with finding his way around the music of the time to have a popular song on the street that he forgot to display his vocal dexterity and lyrical prowess in order to establish himself as an R&B artiste to cut. We actually expected Inyanya to have poured more soul and emotions into this album.
Even if there are a handful of tracks that should’ve been shaved off, there’s nothing outright bad on True Story album and a lot that is good. It probably might not be a standout in the overall catalogue of music albums but it is indeed a solid one nonetheless because his versatility is intact. It is literally a perfect example of a teenager becoming a man.