Yemi Alade “Mamapiano” EP Review: Hits & Misses

Here is a review of Yemi Alade’s latest extended play titled Mamapiano

Hits

Song concepts and Themes
Production and Arrangement
EP Title

Misses

Hooks and Choruses

Yemi Alade Mamapiano Review

The opening track- Amazing Grace, even for an amapiano track, is a well-written track. It is written with quite some intention that depicts Yemi Alade’s gratitude and her successes so far in the industry. The Amapiano beats are laid back a little to allow for Yemi’s quite sonorous voice on this track, until the chorus comes in and then it all makes sense. Big ups to whoever did the arrangement of this track. It ties the song well. Yemi’s lyricism and vocals on Amazing Grace track makes this song sound like a great bop. It’s really an interesting listen.

“Ladies-Get up” sounds more like a club-record than it is something you intentionally want to listen to. Sure, it is a danceable track, but it sounds like it was made specifically for a particular activity. TikTok and Instagram kids would go crazy over this track if there was a dance challenge for it. More so, dance classes would appreciate the bop if they knew a track like this existed. There isn’t really anything unique about the track and the lyrics are recycled over. But that might as well be the point- it’s just for the sake of dancing.

“EFCC” ft. the incredible Ajebo Hustlers would have been the perfect track if it was not ruined by the talk rap that was made the hook. The track is quite sonorous and perfect without that hook. A better hook would have given the song a better replay value. It would have passed for a good track in 2014, but Afrobeat sound has evolved beyond hooks like this. The rest of the song is great though.

“Ogini” is that swagger sound that really passes for a kind of Amapiano track that you would hear Yemi Alade sing. The talk chorus isn’t really helping the song, and as the song begins, it is almost reminiscent of Seyi Vibez and his style of singing. Ogini is a nice track, even with the talk chorus and all.

Yemi Alade Mamapiano EP Review

No doubt, Yemi Alade is evolving as an artist and adjusting to the new standards of making music in the industry, and with Mamapiano, she tries to prove that she is not a dinosaur, she can prove her dexterity on virtually every genre of song. While a few of the songs have the unnecessary adlibs and hooks that accompanies some of her songs, their arrangement, production and concept is not entirely lacking.

What’s more? Mamapiano review shows that the extended play had way more potential than it was given. A genuinely unique track on this EP is the opening song “Amazing Grace”. Kudos to Yemi on such an incredible record.

Rating: 6/10

Kizz Daniel “Too Busy to be Bae” lyrics

“Only Fine Girl” Remix lyrics Spyro ft Simi

Go to Home| Read the latest

Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), is a Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist.Her music which incorporates Afro; Highlife, Dancehall, Pop and R&B has been of influence in many African countries and the world as she is acclaimed “Mama Africa” for this and her versatility in using different African languages and attires in her songs and music videos.

She sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese.Alade’s father was a police commissioner of Yoruba descent, while her mother is of Igbo descent.

Alade won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single “Johnny” in 2014.

Following the releases of her albums King of Queens and Mama Africa, Alade embarked on world tours consecutively.

In 2016, she debuted on Billboard as No 4 on “Next Big Sound” Chart. She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively and was nominated for Artiste of the Year in 2015, making her the first female to win the MAMAs for Best female consecutively twice and nominated for Artiste of the Year. In 2015, Alade was the first African female to be nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) and she was nominated for the BET awards for Best International Act: Africa in 2015 and 2016. Alade is also applauded for her creative and overwhelming stage performances, fashion and music videos, She has won The Headies Award for Best Performer twice, 2018 and 2019. The slot was initiated at The Headies 2018 and she was the first artiste to win the category.

Alade is also the second Nigerian and Afrobeats artist and the first female to hit 100 million views for a single video on YouTube after Davido.

On 9 June 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the forefront artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world.

On 27 June 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle.

In 2022, Yemi Alade bagged a Grammy certificate for of her collaboration with Beninese music icon, Angelique Kidjo on her Mother Nature album. She also is the first afrobeats artiste to get a Latin Grammy nomination for the song “Cónexion Total” with Bomba Estéreo, Both the song and (Deja) the album it featured in was nominated for the awards. In 2022, The Scoove Africa ranked Yemi Alade “The Best Stage Performer in Nigeria” for the year 2022.

Emma Dabiri, in an article published on Norient, named Alade as a revolutionary artist “simply rediscovering some of the freedoms to which colonialism and its immediate legacy once barred them access