I love anticipation, and the all the feelings that it generates. We live in a world where the best of everything comes to us in the moment. We want food, it’s available. We need a treat, we get it. When we feel like being in the rain, we can make that happen. Everything we want comes to us. Technology has made this possible, cutting out waiting periods on just about everything and every service.
But not in music. In the music industry, and as a fan looking forward to a new project from your favorite artiste, you have to wait. For some things, we have to wait. I have earlier written an article on the art of appreciating anticipation, and why the wait for new music is to be savored.
Davido has made us wait all year for this project. The singer who signed to Sony Music Entertainment in January 2016, is yet to release new music after 9 months in the label. And although he has been hard at work recording new music, he is yet to make a first official release under the music giants. No solo record from the singer has been heard across the world since he signed along the dotted lines on a Sony Music contract, and sealed his distribution in the US with RCA Records. Instead, for him, it’s been a complicated story of planning, authorizations, failed release dates and anticipation.
But that wait is about to be over. The singer has announced his debut project under Sony Music; an EP titled “Son Of Mercy”. The album art has been released, and September 30, 2016 has been announced as a release date. That’s just over 48 hours as I write this article.
play
Davido - "Son Of Mercy" EP
(Twitter)
But 48 hours is too long. We want it now. The time period between an album’s announcement and the album release is the only time you’re able to fantasize and create the ideal project. Your mind is able to run to the ends of the earth, daydreaming about the perfect project, and creating the best sounds, lyrics and adlibs. That fantasy becomes a dream with each passing day, and you begin to wonder if it will ever come true. But when it does come, what will Davido offer us?
There’s a feeling that the old Davido is gone. The guy who gave us many happy memories via hit records is no more. That should have been clear the first moment we saw him announce the Sony Music deal and bragged different. Davido is no more. The version we know will be dead completely on his personal projects. We might still find him make a resurrection on collaborations with other local artistes, but on his personal works, no.
What we will have now is a hungrier Davido. One who understands that the playing field for him has been pulled from under him, and replaced with the widest expanse of land. He is no longer the boy from Africa working to rule the continent. Sony Music intends for him to rule the world. That’s why there has been immense work all through the months to get him to this level. “Son Of Mercy” will be his first time out.
So here’s what to expect: Expect a Davido different from all that you have seen prior to 2016. His sound will be tuned to globally connect with a wider audience. We all lament the limitations of Nigerian music, and how penetration of our local sounds to different cultures have been stunted. But a deal like this means our music is heard internationally on a larger scale.
Davido’s music has the ability and power to meld with numerous heterogeneous societies, and introduce the Nigerian way. But first he has to penetrate on this inside. The singer will have to internalise global pop music, and pass it through his Nigerian filter to produce a mutated sound. That’s why this is exciting. We get a chance to finally be a part of a new and inspiring journey for Davido, one of the continents biggest exports to the global stage.
September 30, 2016 is almost upon us, and cometh the hour, cometh the new “Son Of Mercy”…
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