Chike’s third body of work, ‘Son of Chike’ is packed with nostalgia. There is no escaping the familiar progressions of his first work, ‘Boo of the Booless’ in his current outing. He is a lover boy, plain as cardboard. Why try to be something you are not? There is no facade here. You hear the same Chike you heard in 2020, but with a slight nuance in the choice of instrumentals.
With ‘Son of Chike’, Chike appears to be more in tune with expressions rooted in his Igbo genealogies, and there is a sense of pride that is captivatingly palpable in each percussive, brass, and string neatly arranged by a bonafide ‘son of the soil’. The singer bridges the contemporary and the traditional with this decision to boldly portray culture at a time when most divert to suit a Western appeal.
The album opener, ‘Unto You’ is a heart-pouring ballad that features witty rapper, and songwriter, Ladipoe. ‘Unto You’, is permeated by hazy guitar progressions, shakers, kicks, snares, and yearnings for requited affections. Both artists explore different plots but arrive at alignment regardless.
The Grid is transformed from introspective to lively drums and catchy piano chordal movements when the late Mohbad featured ‘Egwu’ comes next to the queue. The song, the biggest streamer on ‘Son of the Soil’ with over forty million Spotify streams steps our progenitor’s work into a crescendo before moving to Amapiano log drum-infused ‘ Lifetime Love’. ‘Lifetime Love’ is Chike in his element.
‘Apple’ is a melodic ballad that sounds like a piece co-written by Kizz Daniel. The song is reminiscent of a Kizz Daniel record, but Chike delivers in form only peculiar to him.
The contemporary highlife hit, ‘Ego Oyinbo’ comes next in sequence. His Eastern idiosyncracies truly spark to life via ‘Ego Oyinbo’. It is unique and sweetly catered for an audience Chike knows best. When one thinks Chike wasn’t going to delve into more original sounds, and maybe settle for a compromise, ‘Mma’ surfaces. Chike embraces local percussions even more as he sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, and Yoruba, proving language isn’t a barrier when music is put in question.
Talented fast-rising singer and hitmaker, Qing Madi delivers one of the best verses in the project- bar Olamide, whom this writer believes delivered the best. Her performance in track eight, ‘Your Loss’ provides a sweet bounce that ripples the project with dynamics. ‘Not Your Daddy’ is Chike proving versatility, as he tentatively steps away from the lover boy cloak. It is just that he isn’t particularly believable here.
The Olamide and Amaaeya enlisted ‘ One Day’ sees Chike and his collaborators deliver a silver lining of hope to listeners, a beautiful rendition. Groovy bass leads the introspective ‘Balance Am’. Here, Chike questions himself and his choices, concluding that there is a need for redemption; a balance.
Chike ends his chronologic third album with the reassuring depths of ‘Man not God’, bringing this uncompromising album, which stays true to self without the bore usually found with sound dogmas to a befitting end.
Ratings: 8/10
