Nigerian talented dancer, singer, and businessman, Peter Okoye, popularly known as Mr Pfrom the defunct group P Square has dropped his first album since going solo and detaching from his twin brother. Yes, the split of P Squaretook their fans by surprise, and even to date they still clamor for the return of PSquare.
Mr P seems to be saying No going back as he releases his debut album as a solo artist titled The Prodigal. The 16-tracked album sees a rich collaboration with Nigeria’s finest singers such as Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Simi, his own label act Singah, and America’s Tamar Braxton, etc.Now unto the matter, the opening track Odo is the proper definition of classic. From the beat to the expressions and the synchronization, once you hear the song you will know that it is Mr P with a touch of the PSquare sound we are familiar with.
Mr. P has been able to create that signature tune that rings in the brain to identify he is the one. In Odo he explains how nothing can come between himself and his love interest. Simple and straight. The use of the piano cremates this song and yes it is hit single material.
The tracks he featured his own label act Singah, Paloma and Lola Diego have an added spice of Spanish touches.
Of course, we are familiar with the Mexican soap opera Paloma and Diego. Mr P and Singah, give us two versions of a story on both tracks. Paloma is an eulogy of their love interest once again. Songs like Palomo have weak lyrical content, I’m sure when you write the lyric it is definitely not up to one page, just saying, oh well.
While Lola Diego possesses similar features to the latter but focuses on how she has stayed with him even when he had no money.
The queen of afro-beats Tiwa Savage did not really kill the track I Do. Seeing that Mr. P featured Tiwa, one would originally expect the world as these are two mad talents on the beats. But it just fell below expectation. Just for the record on this track, NO we are not saying I Do! Songs like Boyfriend have an okay beat, they are not extraordinary when it comes to the beat and instrumentation. In fact, if this track is removed from the entire album it won’t change anything.
Many artists have sung about boyfriends but this just doesn’t stand out at all. Yes, he wants to be way more than just a boyfriend, lover, but it doesn’t kill it for us.
We are grateful that Mr P made his album like a graph, it goes up and doesn’t leave us on the ground, Just Like That featuring Mohombi raises the bar for us.
Yes, most of his songs have that P Square kind of beat and tune but it’s a relief we get to hear something similar to what we used to hear before and I feel as he has adopted this and kept it, it will turn out to play in his favor. The vocals super compliment the synchronization of the beats and it is the perfect starter. We love this track Just Like That and it is definitely a super hit single. READ ALSO: Music Review: Teni’s Wondaland Is A Magical & Sensational Journey That Everyone Should Embark On. No Cap!It is not possible to have Simi, Teni, Tamar Braxon, and Mr P on one track and that track won’t be awesome. The power hands on this track are fantastic, Only Mr P can ever think to produce this kind of combo. I Love You is the perfect couple song to be sung by couples, the backbeats, and vocals plus the arrangement of the entire score is stressless and perfect.
Teni surely has a way of making a song relaxing, while Simi just adds mad spice to it, Tamar Braxon serenades us beautifully, Mr P didn’t even have to do much from what we can hear, Beautiful all around.
It is a cliche that when one is singing a song about trouble they automatically adopt Fela’s style of instrumentation and signature trumpet beat. Come on are we still doing this! I No Like Trouble, is a predictable song because the beat just gives it away. That’s all we have on this table.
The song from which the album got its name, The Prodigal featuring DJ Switch is a vibe on its own. The resonating beat created with the use of the guitar just gets the head nodding subtly.
It’s a track that one can easily gyrate to and just wine to the feel of the beat, guitars are very good in creating that kind of effect, as he sings prodigal ma lo gbe oriwa, ogbeni calm down when you hear the gbedu make you calm down… Just smooth, No cap!
Mr P keeps raising the bar as he progresses on this album, one thing is obvious that he didn’t just jump into the studio to record an album. Smooth Criminal and Blessed still maintain the same theme of his love interest, he really focuses on the ladies, society, and his lifestyle (the fact that he doesn’t like trouble as he said on one of his tracks).
Mr P uses this body of work to make it known that his calm and collected personality depicted via social media is the real deal. He has no reason to chase clout because he is Blessed.One strength of the defunct PSquare group is the unique way they have of singing that makes their love songs beautiful and Mr P retains that. Grow Old another song with a feature that has Ovikels on it, resound one of the themes of the album. This song gives off that P Diddy kind of vibes.
One can never go wrong the amapiano beat, Never! and Mr P doesn’t go wrong as he uses the amapiano beat as the foundational beat for Eh Lo. The perfect song for your haters. The African feel that comes with an amapiano beat always spices up the atmosphere. On this track, he made the right beat for it. Nobody and Fly Away are cut from the same cloth as the track, Odo. There is no how they will not send the lady to tell her parents they love her and this comes into play in Fly Away. He sings, Tell your Mama say you wan dey with me, Girl i no go lie, You’re the one, that i need, Tell your Papa say i don dey here with you, Girl i no go lie for you you, Me i don dey die for you you. Wande Cole can never fade, no matter how long he stays away from our ears, each time he comes back it is always like a breath of fresh air. Come on, what magic does he make!
On the track Follow My Lead, the moment we heard the beat then spiced up with Wande’s killer voice, there is no how we would not follow his lead, straight up, No cap, we need no more instructions at all, (lol). Final Thoughts The Prodigal creates a picture of this new Mr P and sets the tone and pattern of what to expect from Peter Okoye as a solo artist. One thing is clear on this body of work, Mr P picked the right features, each and every one of them was a hit back to back, we have to say that.
Although on some tracks the lyrical content could have been much better, we definitely expect him to step up in that aspect.
But listening to this album of 16 tracks is fantastic. 16 tracks is a lot as that bothers over an hour, but each and every track is worth the listen, No cap!!!
The fact that he maintained some of the signature feel from tracks we have missed from the defunct duo PSquare, is very cute of him. Mr P has done a good job and as a solo artist he just made a very beautiful bed to lie on and we will gladly lie in it with him, (lol). Listen to the album below;
Now unto the matter, the opening track Odo is the proper definition of classic. From the beat to the expressions and the synchronization, once you hear the song you will know that it is Mr P with a touch of the PSquare sound we are familiar with.
It is not possible to have Simi, Teni, Tamar Braxon, and Mr P on one track and that track won’t be awesome. The power hands on this track are fantastic, Only Mr P can ever think to produce this kind of combo.
One strength of the defunct PSquare group is the unique way they have of singing that makes their love songs beautiful and Mr P retains that.
Photo Credit: Getty
