Talented singer and songwriter Olatunji Oladotun Alade popularly known as Dotman has dropped his debut album titled Hakuna Matata. Consistency and Dotman can be said to be in the same sentence as has been dropping vibing tunes over the last couple of years. The 17-track album is a unique blend of Afropop and Urban highlife. The singer comes out to give us a taste of who he is and what he is capable of doing.
The tracks Pele and Number One can be said to be brothers, while the former speaks on the struggle and years of not having enough. Also, his belief and trust in God to come out of his situation. With the beat and rhythm built on cool notes, the kind you hear when you go out to chill. The latter is the more jumpy version still possessing the same theme of the hustle and making it. Enugbe is also on this same line. READ ALSO: New Video: Nao Ft Adekunle Gold On & Antidote Chop Life just like the name implies, is all about Dotman saying how he plans to chop life and encourages everyone to do the same. He refuses to be a star and dull at the moment. He says, ‘’I’m living the life; I’m feeling the vibe (Yeah Yeah), No stress, Ka sha ma gbadun lo, ye ye, You know say, (you know say).’’
The singer takes us to the next phase as he declares how he can be a good friend on the track Mind. He also specifies this gentle gesture to his lady, not his guy friends (lol). Giving us another insight, in Duro, as he has apparently offended his love interest who has left him as a result of his olojukoko. Listening to these tracks we see a need for growth in the writings of Dotman. Yes, he wrote the entire songs on this album but there is still a need for visible growth in his writings skills as a singer. Awe Refix is a mixture of Yoruba language and pidgin. Adding your native language to a song always has a way of making that track stand out. Thus, this track is no exception. The beat is magnificent I must say, from the first track to this song, this is the only song that sounds like it has life in it. Not just because of its jivy feel but the instrumental is just hitting the right notes. The track from which the album gets its title, Hakuna Matata, is just hmm, I can’t say more than that. Yes, we feel the presence of that Afropop and urban feel in it, but I just feel this song could have much more, from the beat to the lyric, it could have been much better.
Of course, just like every other artiste that sings about ladies, Dotman is no exception. While this body of work doesn’t focus on ladies and their body parts, the track Enter My Soul is focused on the love his love interest is giving him and how it is entering his soul just like the name of the song goes. He says, ‘’Enter my soul oh oh enter my soul, E dey enter my soul, This kind love e dey enter my soul, E dey enter my soul’’ Feelings, Tonight, Giveaway, Shuga, seems like he is about to take us on a very thrilling trip of great beats and lyrics but he just takes us high and brings us back down with his same hands. For the above-mentioned songs which come at the latter part of the album, they are much better than the first five to six tracks. His voice, to an extent his creativity comes to play here but at a very minimal level. Dotman put out a lot on this album that it just makes it difficult to get the direction he is trying to go as he just seems to be all over the place hence that need for growthin his writing skill. For even when there the beat doesn’t hit, the lyrics should be able to make that hit.
One can never go wrong when they sing about their mothers. Such can be said for Dotman, as he sings about his mother in Mama. He says, ‘’My mama ah eyiye, You no go die ah eyiye, I love you mama eyiye.’’ Listening to Frenemies and Blessed one thing is clear in this entire body of work, the theme of God, thanksgiving, and life struggle is specified. It’s a plus to him that he didn’t give us the cliche version talking about the bodies of ladies as most artists do, he instead speaks about the ladies in a reduced tone and from the aspect of love and the issues that come with it. The high point of the album though not much include his diversion from the usual topics people now sing about, the infusion of his native language, and his effort to try and create a style for himself from beginning to the end. Final Thoughts
We know the name of the album is Hakuna Matata, but did he have to remind us all the time by repeating it at the beginning of every track. At some point, One would wonder what inspired him to drop this album because it is just a straight line graph throughout from the first to the last track. At no point was there a climax talk less of an anti-climax. At least for there to be an anticlimax there must have surely been a climax.
Common man, A 17-track album for a debut album, really, We spend so long listening to this album from top to bottom, and at the end, we sit to wonder what we just listened to. This album could have been much better. One sad part about this album is that none of the tracks have the potential of being hit singles, they are all just okay. That’s the word the name of this album should have been called okay or just okay. Irrespective, we commend his effort and believe in him that he can do better, much better. This is only the beginning for this young talented star. Photo Credit: Getty
The 17-track album is a unique blend of Afropop and Urban highlife. The singer comes out to give us a taste of who he is and what he is capable of doing.
The track from which the album gets its title, Hakuna Matata, is just hmm, I can’t say more than that. Yes, we feel the presence of that Afropop and urban feel in it, but I just feel this song could have much more, from the beat to the lyric, it could have been much better.
Final Thoughts
Photo Credit: Getty
