Two years after he had the world dancing to his smash hit, Oxlade released his debut album ‘Oxlade of Africa’. While the album offers glimpses of his distinctive vocal prowess and melodies, the content takes on a direction that alienates both the artist and the art from the consumers he intends to win over.
“Oxlade Of Africa” is the stamp of distinction the musician leaves on every track and it’s the title he adopts for his debut album that comes after over a decade in the game.
With the title presenting him as a pan-Africanist musician spreading his talent across the continent, Oxlade attempts to ratify this tag by collaborating with continental stars whose presence fails to uplift the records or communicate his popstar ambition.
His attempt to create a brand and persona that reconciles with the title also saw him ditch avant-garde Popstar fashion for free-flowing African cultural prints. For listeners who cared to notice, the sight of Oxlade dressed like an African Prince in a big motion picture mostly created more confusion as to exactly where he was heading.
Released September 20, 2024, Oxlade’s ‘OFA’ packs 16 tracks with 6 pre-release singles which curiously includes his 2022 smash hit ‘Kulosa’ sneakily placed in track 6. If the semblance of commercial success the song’s 355 million Spotify streams offer is off-putting, more unbearable is the 5 new collaborations Oxlade adds with all bar ‘On My Mind’ featuring Tomi Owo and Ojahbee being an attempt to give some meaning to the album title.
The album opens on a rather confusing note with ‘D PTSD interlude’ where Oxlade gets Ugandan musician and politician Bobi Wine to co-sign his status as an African cultural star while recounting the trauma of the 2020 ENDSARS protest during which his manager and long-term friend Ojahbee was briefly arrested by rouge policemen. If this moment is deeply personal, this writer thinks Oxlade trivialised it by turning it into an attempt to communicate rather pretentious pan-Africanist sentiments echoed by Bobi Wine’s presence.
Although the album largely retains the familiar subtexts of the romantic declaration of a sweet-tongued popstar and the chest-thumping of an artist with a global hit, the songs merely offer glimpses rather than an emphatic display of Oxlade’s abilities.
While his declarations of divine blessings on ‘Blessed’ feat Popcaan and the Amapiano and House fusion on ‘On My Mind’ makes for an enjoyable experience, the bulk of the new addition fails to deliver much excitement as Oxlade didn’t push boundaries and neither did the veterans he tapped to give the album an African outlook.
Linking up with Fally Ipupa doesn’t offer the kind of excitement it would have packed a decade ago and this is obvious in the lack of interest generated by the album’s last pre-release single.
While Flavour shines in his familiar Highlife fusion thumping ground on the Magicsticks-produced ‘Ovami,’ Oxlade’s partnership with Wande Coal while heartwarming is dated and sounds like a record that’s a couple of years late.
Sarkodie‘s verse on the Konto bounce of ‘Olulufe’ is a regurgitation of familiar flows similar to Oxlade’s tired singing and overreliance on his falsetto. Sarkodie’s most important contribution to song is the credence his presence gives to the album title just like that of Bobi Wine, Fally Ipupa, and even the seminal Wande Coal who appears to be increasingly tapped for his status and legacy rather than his contributions.
When Oxlade sings about the good life on ‘RMF’ the song hovers at the level of ordinariness that shapes a bulk of the records on an album that struggles to hit a high point during its 45-minute 30-second playtime.
The album’s quality is summed up by the painful realization that a bulk of the excitement it offers exists in the pre-released singles ‘Intoxycated’ featuring British-Nigerian rapper Dave, ‘Ovami’ featuring Flavour, and ‘Katigori’.
When Oxlade thumps his chest on the album closer, it doesn’t create the glorious exit he must have hoped for as listeners had to struggle through 16 tracks that didn’t offer much or do justice to his talent and ambition.
Oxlade sat on his moment for too long and his debut album ‘OFA’ comes a little too late while also being shockingly unable to excel on the merit of the direction he chose to explore.
The album appears to be a product of cold feet as Oxlade dallied on its release with the project failing to communicate a clear and intentional artistic direction.
After nearly a decade in the game, this debut album doesn’t do for Oxlade what it should nor does it have what it takes to propel him to the next level.
This writer thinks he needs to go back and return with a bang. Hopefully, his follow-up album doesn’t take as long.
Songwriting, Themes, and Delivery: 1.4/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 0.5/2