California-based Nigerian artist Fii3rd releases his debut album, Son of Imo, encompassing 17-tracks and taking three years to make.
Talking about the album, Fii3rd says, “I’ve been working on ‘Son of Imo’ for three years now. I wanted to make an album that served as a love letter to my hometown, family, friends, and of course my listeners. The album is a culmination of all that I love in music and my own personal slant on afrobeats music. Each song on the album is a piece of my mind evolved into melodies, and my only hope is that it finds a new home in the hearts of fans and critics alike. I put my all into this project, I can’t wait to have people listen to these words of a ‘Son of Imo.’”
Blending together elements of afrobeats, R&B, melodic rap, and traditional highlife music, the album features guest appearances by Yung6ix and DwillsHarmony. Highlighting the album are “Amina” and “For The Money.” The latter song went viral on TikTok, amassing more than two million plays.
Fii3rd hit the music scene with a bang in 2017, releasing tracks likd “Iheoma,” “Gbam Gbam,” and “DIA,” and has been endorsed by MTV Base Africa, Soundcity TV, Trace Urban, Cool FM, and Wazobia FM.
Entry points on the album include “For the Money,” a delicious song, fusing R&B and luscious afrobeats into polished layers of music. Fii3rd’s voice stands out as both sensuously alluring and luxurious. While “Your Type” emanates hints of reggae-lite merging with tasty afrobeat leitmotifs.
A persona favorite, “Usman,” rides a bewitching syncopated rhythm topped by Fii3rd’s deluxe, tropical tones. Low-slung and rippling with Latin-flavored guitars, “Extras” moves and rolls on erotic undulations. Vaguely reminiscent of Lionel Ritchie, “Yetunde” amalgamates tangs of reggae, afrobeats, and Latin relish into a sparkling voluptuous tune riding a galvanizing rhythm.
Son of Imo is a marvelous album – smooth and flowing with seductive waves of sound atop captivating rhythms, all capped by Fii3rd’s superb voice.
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