Awarding winning Nigerian singer, Reekado Banks has released another body of work to soothe our ears. He dropped his EP ‘Off The Record‘ on the 27th of November, 2020. The EP which he got inspired to do when he was stuck in Gabon during the pandemic is a step up for the soaring singer.
READ ALSO: ‘I Wasn’t Respected’ – Reekado Banks Breaks Silence On Wizkid’s Insult
Off The Record is his first project since his debut album Spotlight in 2016. The EP is a 7 tracks music project which houses his 2019 Mega hit song Rora and the two previously released single in 2020; ‘Need More‘ and ‘You Dey Mad‘. He goes further to feature some renowned musicians such as Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Harmonize, Attifaya.
On to the heat of the matter, Reekado still possesses that unique spice that makes him different. We could hear this in every lyrics spoken on this EP. We see a Reekado who is telling the world he doesn’t care about what people say or how they expect him to live his life. He sends them a reply on the track You Dey Mad featuring AttiFaya saying, You never buy Okada, You dey curse who drive Range Rover, You dey mad, Dem wan show me how I go live my life, E be like you dey mad’. 
We sense the same vibe from People Dey, where he featured Mr Eazi. But he goes deeper here to state the hypocrisy of people and how they can hate you for no just cause. He maintains this vibe as he says,
People dey
Some of them hate, some of them yan, some of them chat shit
People dey
Some of them fine, some of them no fine, no just like me
People dey
Some of them hate, some of them yan, some of them chat shit
People dey
Bad as e bad I go live my life, I go faaji
People dey
Mr Eazi’s lyrics to this track helps to focus the intended message of the entire track. Kudos to him. The use of the trumpet and that Felaish tune mixed in a mellowed way spiced up the beat of the song. This he did well to include.
The allusion from the normal singer we know who is always singing about ladies and their body parts like he did in Rora, which was a hit by the way. We see him going outside Nigeria to Africa at large on the track Mama. He features Harmonize on this track who just helped to spice the entire make up of the song. He mixes the talk about the lady and Africa while infusing that African language and sound. 
There is this reoccurring underlining sound to the entire EP that gives each track a soothing feel. This comes from Banks himself, its that spice he is known for that he brings to his tunes all the time. We can’t help but commend this work. He has been able to take a little step from the elaborate talk about the ladies. We see him looking at life in a broader scope as he weights the words and actions of people around him.
A mature sounding Reekado is seen on Happy Yourself , though still in line with his consistent telling of not caring about what people say and their actions. Here he confirms the growth we sense in him, as he says,
‘I no fit kill myself for inside this life o
You no I’m a road man,
I just dey do my shows,
I dey mind my business,
Brother make you bone am,
I no dey like people wey dey test my patience’.
In terms of artist featured on the entire EP, we can say he did an okay job. On the track Speak To Me which he featured Tiwa Savage was not all that. We just heard the same Tiwa Savage, nothing exciting or interesting. This just seems to put a dent on the entire EP.
Final Thoughts
We must definitely applaud Reekado Banks for this body of work. It shows a step further in his musical career. Confirming to us that he has the desire to break more grounds as a singer not just in Nigeria but around the world.
Photo Credit: Getty
