SDC | Zikoko!

Did Show Dem Camp (SDC) just release the waviest album of the year? Yes. While albums like Asa’s V and Burna Boy’s Love, Damini showed different sides to the artists behind them, and Omah Lay’s Boy Alone delved deeper into the mind of a rising star, something about Show Dem Camp’s Palmwine Music 3 feels like the ultimate breath of fresh air.

With appearances from past collaborators like BOJ, Moelogo and Ladipoe, as well as new entries from Tay Iwar, Victony and Nesta, Palmwine 3 feels like the best way to close the group’s highlife-inspired trilogy. So with 16 features across 17 songs, which features slapped the hardest?

Apollo (feat. Tay Iwar)

It’s been eight years since I first heard Tay Iwar on his debut project, Passport, and this man’s voice still gives me goosebumps all over. Apollo is an obvious party starter, just like most of the songs on this album, but the way Tay Iwar skates seamlessly on the chorus with this rap-song type of melody makes it a major highlight for me.

PS: If you need another reason not to trust men, listen to how SDC and Tay Iwar make having apollo sound sexy AF!

Wyw (feat. Bellah)

“I hope she cheats on you. I hope she makes a fool of you. I hope she carries belle for your friend,” Bellah chose violence on Wyw, and it’s giving me endorphins. Taking the blame game to another level, the song follows a messy break-up with Tec and Ghost trying to end the relationship peacefully and Bellah constantly saying, “No, fuck that shit!”

I’ll always support women’s rights (and wrongs), so this song is a contender for my number one track on Palmwine Music 3.

Live Life (feat. Tems)

Tems wasn’t playing when she told us she was the leading vibe on Higher, because what? This babe bullies the beat from the very moment she opens Live Life with its smooth ass chorus. There’s a switch reminiscent of Lady Donli’s Cash and it just makes me want to throw my hands in the air and truly live life to the fullest. This is the one song on Palmwine Music 3 that’ll get you hyped real fast.

Head Over Heels (feat. Victony)

Can someone tell Victony that his heavenly race is no longer pure? After declaring that all power belongs to bumbum on All Power earlier this year [2022], Victony comes back on Head Over Heels to involve God in matters of the bumbum again. Conflict of faith aside, Victony’s vocals carry this song with so much vim, it’s easy to see why he’s quickly becoming one of the go-to guys for hooks in 2022.

RECOMMENDED: The 7 Nigerian Singers Guaranteed to Give You a Hit Song in 2022

Kele (feat. BOJ)

Songs like Feel Alright and Compose are receipts that prove it’s always a madness when SDC links up with BOJ, and Kele is no different. It opens with, “You’re now rocking with the SDC. it’s the Show Dem Camp, omo, yes, indeed,” and it just feels full circle for everyone who’s loved SDC from their Feel Alright days. While Kele doesn’t come close to their previous collaborations (the bar is too high, bruh), it still manages to leave a mark of its own.

OldFlame (feat. Nesta and Ladipoe)

SDC introduced me to FLASH in 2018 with Tropicana, and now they have me obsessed with Nesta thanks to his chorus on OldFlame. While Ladipoe comes through to remind the audience that he’s still one of the best lyricists with his performance, it’s the skit at the end that steals the show for me. Enobong, how far?

Mine Alone (feat. Oxlade)

If there’s one song that is sure to blow up from Palmwine Music 3, it’s Mine Alone with Oxlade. I can already picture radio stations and playlists rinsing this song till its collar starts to fade. Oxlade delivers again in a way that reminds me of his iconic hooks on Blaqbonez’ Mamiwota in 2018 and DJ Tunez’ Causing Trouble in 2019. Once again, I’m confident this’ll be the major commercial hit from the album.

No Regrets (feat. Moelogo)

SDC made a gospel song for creatives and that’s on period! No Regrets is a song for dreamers who have been able to taste their dreams and those still struggling to reach the other side. Moelogo’s decision to sprinkle some Yoruba in the chorus makes No Regrets a more spiritual listening experience than the other songs on the album. Major shoutout to SDC for being vulnerable and sharing their story because this song is now my motivational anthem, for real.

ALSO READ: Halfway Into 2022 and These Are the Best Nigerian Albums We’ve Heard

Conrad Johnson-Omodiagbe

October 6, 2022

Pop

Oxlade, Palmwine Music, SDC, Show Dem Camp, Tay Iwar, Tems
You’ve probably been there before.

One day, you’re streaming music, then you remember that jam way back you haven’t heard in years. So you go to the search tab on your Apple Music or Spotify, enter the song title and voila, nothing dey there.

This is usually when you begin to doubt your childhood. You wonder all those memories were just uploaded to your brain and Wande Coal’s “You Bad” never really happened. But that’s not why we’re here.

Welcome to the world of streaming music, where for a small fee, every song is just a couple clicks away, (except, in this case, the one you actually want to listen to).

You know that infamous story about the record industry’s collapse and the rise of streaming (pronounce: Apple’s iTunes) that started in 2009?

Well, streaming is pretty much the main reason music has broken borders, become profitable again and dominated culture in the last few years.

But iTunes wasn’t available in Nigeria until 2013.

Spotify, that best friend that knows the music you like, isn’t available in Nigeria 11 years after it launched. Boys have their ways of course.

And what they often found was that there were certain classics missing from these libraries.

Here are some that we all have noticed and we just really want to listen to because we paid money for it and whatnot (obvs, this doesn’t apply to Spotify users).

Wande Coal – You Bad

Too many games of PES 09 played to this album. Too many hopes lifted on dancefloors covered in sweat and (sometimes) cheap liquor. Too many drives home, along with conversations about Wande Coal was the goat.

As far as we know, this album, Wande’s first and only project under Mo’ Hits, is tied up under the terms of his contract with Don Jazzy’s team. There’s also some talk about samples that turned out too difficult to clear.

Too bad.

SDC – Clone Wars 3: The Recession

After years of doing the deal, Nigeria’s most fearsome duo is finally getting their respect. But one worries that the generation vioa alte hooks on “Palmwine Music” is missing a vital part of the puzzle – Clone Wars, particularly the third instalment of the series.

Yes. It’s a mixtape. Yes. It’s on Soundcloud. But considering that Clone Wars IV is available on Apple Music, the lines begin to get blurred. Surely, it can’t be too much to ask.

MI Abaga – Illegal Music 2

The few times I’ve met the rapper who soundtracked my late teens, I’ve often joked that this is the album where he decided to work with every young artiste he liked at the time. He denies it every time.

As far as Nigerian rap albums go, this was a passing of the baton, unlike anything before it. Today’s OGs built around an MI in his prime. This is where you can get Boogey as Brain, and Yung6ix as a Lil Wayne re-incarnate.

I know he said “Illegal Music Free, No Mason” on the opening track. But you can’t hide history.

Lagbaja – His Entire Bl**dy Discography

The masked one. Omo baba m’uko m’uko. Forebearer of a whole generation of pop acts who today skirt that thing like between pop and indigenous music.

If you’re lucky, your parents (first generation Lagos baby boys and girls) introduced you to Lagbaja’s music as a toddler.

Or you heard him on the television, on videotapes of Lekki Sunsplash or on the radio. Either way, Lagbaja was a staple of a generation’s childhood. Sadly, a generation may never get to hear classics like “Africalypso”.

2face Idibia – Grass 2 Grace

The greatest pop musician in Nigerian history. 2baba has been a staple of our lives for god knows along. He’s probably not a vampire but 2face and his music have stayed young since we were kids.

SO CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN I CAN”T LISTEN TO “GRASS TO GRACE” ON APPLE MUSIC?

The second chapter of his journey post-Plantashun Boyz is missing from pretty much every music streaming site. That means classics like “For Instance”, “One Love” and “No Shaking” exist largely in your memory.

WHAT. THE. HELL. MAN.

Segun Akande

February 18, 2019

Pop

2baba, 2Face Idibia, Clone Wars III, Grass 2 Grace, Illegal Music 2, Innocent Idibia, Lagbaja, MI Abaga, Mushin 2 Mo’Hits, music, Nigeria, SDC, wande coal