Xamination - Steel's ‘desert' opus

Steel

Mirage

(Yes Records)

Steel makes a debut offering that samples different genres of music, with seven producers cooking the beats on this one. The producers on Mirage include; ID Cabasa, Skin, Ralph Alkali, Spanky, SARS and DJ Zeez who also features on one of the tracks.

Steel’s music is highly influenced by the countries he has lived in; with sampling from the popular Kwaito sounds of South Africa and Crunk music from America, it is obvious that he borrows a little something wherever he goes.

With about 11 guest singers to go along with the varying production on this CD, the voice texture, arrangement and styles vary on almost every song. Mirage borders on most of the same themes familiar to the Nigerian music terrain; women, money, sex, drinking (Shayo) and partying.

Though songs like “My Way” featuring Gxploits and Naira and “Keep it Clean” featuring 9ice, ID Cabasa, Gxploits, Jah Bless, Trigmatic, Quata and Miss Jane manage take a different route.

The new record does not really stand on its own two legs, with popular phrases like “I like the way you shake that thing” making it rather cliché. On “To Bad” featuring DJ Zeez, the artist practically leaves the microphone to Zeez whose voice is more prominent on the song.

“Taka Sufe” is a catchy head bobbing party jam, which reminds the listener of Soulja Boy Tellem’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” with its finger snapping and crunk feel which should soon make it a club favourite (I’m no prophet though!).

On “Slow Wind”, he sings above a dancehall flavoured R&B tune that features Shank unleashing his lyrical prowess to discuss womenfolk with sexiness.

The popular “South African Girl” which has a creative video and features one of Nigeria’s illest producers, ID Cabasa, steps down the tempo a little with this disco style song.

Like with producing, Cabasa does not disappoint but the truth remains that he is a better producer than singer, unless the song just didn’t bring out his best.

Steel finally shows that he can be a serious singer on “Derinsola” where emphasis is placed not just on the beat but on his vocal abilities. However, following this (the 10th song on the album) is a nightmarish roller coaster ride to the final track.

“Fara Bale” with Mr. Solek’s catchy beats are let down by some poor singing, while “Replacement” should serve as a reminder for Steel to leave rapping to rappers and “Male Ra” is a jumble of voices and music that grumble all the way to the end.

“Keep it Clean” the album closer, has all the elements of good music as the seven singers give the song a good transition from start to finish with the track’s strong message also a plus for it.

Steel has a lot to offer the music industry; he only needs to understand what works for him and what doesn’t.

Grade - C5