In the evolution of music, there was a time when this art used to be about real talent; encapsulating timbres, well-meaning lyrics, blood-tickling accompaniments.
Agonisingly, an open-handed goodbye to that trend.
Thanks to the advent of aggressive rock n’ roll, hip hop and whatever that 808-laden form of music we hear everywhere these days.
Any form of noise that can make a sound and has a sonic pattern is now music and is bopping, making mediocre artists into overnight stars.
The point here is, in a hugely biased world where music absorption is determined by who has bigger and louder fan camps, lesser known and little-celebrated mushrooming virtuosos’ game-changing creative contributions continues to go unnoticed or little attention is paid to them.
Blame it on the powerful music labels for making the professional musician landscape way too tight to make room only for a handful of artists who they feel deserve to be on the front lines.
Such a reflection is what we got when we were going through a batch of Valentine’s Day “ballad” releases that came to our radar.
Almost every artist that matters, romantically, released something, it was either a piece of music, video, snap or a statement.
Yes, that still counts as a release.
Neo-soul artist Adrian Tate aka Mr Ekeskuzu Me also threw his hat in the Valentine’s game with the release of his latest single “Murudo”
Quite possibly the sweetest and balmiest three minutes twenty-three seconds ever recorded for Valentine’s Day this year, the song comes with an appetitive video courtesy of Dir Dave.
To the uninitiated readers in the neo-soul world, this genre is all about punch-you-in-the-gut emotion, which is why it never really goes out of fashion.
From the pioneers in the face of D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell, it’s a timeless genre that’s gripped us for decades and continues to with the new-age phenomena such as Adrian Tate.
Adrian’s “Murudo” can best be described as “of ripienos talking and vocals tickling”.
Here the soft, hazy harmonies combine with heartfelt lyrics so utterly devoid of artifice or florid touches that they could melt already-melted ice cream.
At no point do you ever doubt that Adrian is the real deal; his saccharine vocals have the air of someone who has found himself inescapably in love.
As satiny as it gets, his voice is barely a velvety whisper at times, as he coaxes and cajoles us all into a wet mess.
And then there’s that titillating belle in the video… hot enough to sweat every men’s collar.
Valentines are about love and usually, you wouldn’t love a fast, abrupt uptempo song to make love to.
All that needed is a soft, soul, mushy tune that proclaims love from its crescendos, melodies and lyrics.
Well, a hat tip to us. This soulful ballad could become your new love-making cult gem that you can get
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