Simi is a new X3M Music signee, for
those who don’t already know. She sings, very well. And she has two new offerings- ‘Tiff’ and ‘E No Go Funny’. Both songs; produced by Oscar, are a warm start into the nascent, yet acclaimed Nigerian music industry.
Both songs are strong upon first listen, radio-ready and possessing replay qualities. And I believe much of this is down to the fact that Simi stays real on the joints, with deep yearnings of appealing to her many Nigerian listeners in mind.
On E No Go Funny, the storyline is simple- A song reminiscent of HighSchool-type, teenage emotional outpour; she dissuades a love-struck boy, warning him of consequences in the event he stays on the chase for her. The song builds a whirling vortex of musical high in the concluding parts, drums and keyboard sounds precede certain unclear expressions that Simi makes, glazing the song finely, giving it that climax feel.
Tiff is the second song and sees Simi carrying on from where she stops on E No Go Funny. Here, the music hinges on another love affair, only this time there’s seemingly no restriction. Both lovers appear to have come of age. The language of the song tells us this. The character explains how the boy is a ‘Thief’ (pronounced ‘Tiff’) who gives her the butterflies and has made away with her heart. The instant Simi spat her first words on the chorus, it was always going to be a stunner of a track. And in the end, it is. She leverages the assistance of the local drums and instrumentals and resounding voices in the chorus to notch the song to good heights. It says a lot about her abilities as well as her Producer’s.
However, in spite of all the positives, Oscar still has some work to do. He is the ‘production talisman’ and proves this on both tracks, regardless; he needs to up the ante. His production and mastering render Simi slightly inaudible in certain respects of her delivery. Certain parts of the music see the Singer’s voice drowned, which negates the entire result somewhat. And then again, Simi as well her stories are good but could get better. Her singing -from the release of her ‘Restless’ mixtape till now- has matured into a glorious something. But she could use a bit of tweaking here and there, so that her lyrics go beyond the range of all them naïve, gum-chewing and jean-sagging adolescents into appealing to a much older listening class. This is how to create evergreen, legendary music.
In sum, both songs are great firsts from her. Her first real set of singles since being signed, that is. The fusion of both offerings achieve diverse music objectives that align with mainstream industry nature and peculiarities. The tone, production and balance are exciting for a start, creating a proper springboard for bigger things to come. If there’s a metric for measuring this jumpstart, Simi’s would be off-the-chains.
By Henry Chybuzor Igwe