The Captain album by Bnxn doesn’t sound monotonous. It simply sounds like Bnxn. Here’s why.
Topics like these often come up on Nigeria’s music Twitter streets, and even more so lately as many postulate a steep decline in the quality of afrobeats music churned out by its leading creators in the last one year. Since the release of his second studio album, Bnxn formerly known as Buju has faced similar criticism concerning the project.
The leading argument has been that he isn’t diverse enough with his music, but I differ, and I’m not begging to.
As opposed to these claims, I have counted about four different musical and cultural influences found in the “Captain” album; birthing different and very distinct flavors of afrobeats.
From the sexy drill mellow trap beat of “Cutesy”, to the alté chill of “5hrs Till Nairobi”, to the immense calm of “Totori”, the splendid masterpiece that “Cough Syrup” is, the Afro-gospel feel of “In Jesus Name” and more, I’m only left to wonder why many would still feel that the project is one-directional.
The argument is usually his melodies, and how he seems to have repetitive rhyme and flow schemes. However, I view this more from a perspective of him being an artist — adding his flavour and soul to every kind of music he creates.
He will flex his genre-bending abilities, but he will also be BNXN with his flow, and I think that should be okay. It’s rather unfair to expect a creator to strip themselves of their personal flavour, simply to appeal to some individuals who are more interested in the diversity of the music than in the artist’s expression.
“Captain”, from my point of view, is 16 tracks, with different influences, by one artist.
Itty can be caught studying African pop culture, writing about it or hosting a relationship podcast. When he's not doing any of these, then he's definitely at a bar, getting mocktail.
