Artist: Nyali Musik

Album / Mix-tape Title: #breakthesilence

Lyricism: 4 / 5

Style of Delivery: 4.5 / 5                                                                                  

Content: 2 / 5

Musical Production: 2.5 / 5

Quality: 1.5 / 5

Arrangement: 2 / 5

Concept: 1.5 / 5

Originality / Creativity: 2 / 5

Ever listened to a “mix-tape” and felt as though “whoa, if this is a mix-tape then what will they hit us with on an album???” And then the album comes out and you prefer the mix-tape...? They have set themselves a huge standard in content, lyricism, creativity, and delivery that I hope they won’t break on upcoming projects. First of all, let me justify a few things: I rate the quality a 1.5 because I compared, for example, “yoh wobona” as a single before the mix-tape, the result was that the mix-tape version was lower in quality than the single. The “Nyali Musik Anthem” and “am chilling” are also among the track casualties of a “bad” mix. Why the inconsistency? I remember asking Andy Mineo during The Unashamed Tour 2011 why his mix-tape (Formerly Known) sounded like it should have been an album and he said “in everything you do, do it excellently.” It’s a mix-tape, but it does not have to be half-baked. The musical production wasn’t too varied, it was good but some variation would have been better so as to offer some balance – it’s a loud mix-tape with a few tracks to smooth and mellow it out.

Afana sax was a good touch. I loved him on track 15 which I think was the funniest. He sounds like someone familiar too, #askdavid. The song arrangement between the songs is sweet until you get to track 9 and 10 and realize you want it to slow down a little but it goes right back to banger banger. If the mix-tape was half banger and half mellow I believe it would have covered a lot of bases for me. Content is good and Christ-centered, it was better than I thought it would be and each of their styles and deliveries are sharp like thumb-tacks, you can tell they did not want to settle for just any 16 bars and they gave it their best. However, I related more with songs like “heart” and “come away” because it was real life, something you may have at one point or another probably experienced.

On a personal tip, Li-Wu has great presence and you get drawn into the mix-tape immediately via his opener on “already told him” (track 1) – where is an album by this guy?!? I was doubtful Jeremiah could carry a song but I was humbled when I heard “go hard” (track 6). Yung B: “moralo ili high/koma swagga ili pa low”, is scratching the surface on how much growth Yung B has undergone in-terms of content on “yoh wobona” (track 7). “Always be” (track 9) is such a feel-good song and refreshes the mix-tape. S.A.M.U.E.L is a beast on “living that life” (track13). The content on “come away” was deep and the best in that regard in my opinion. K.B.G’s touch is all over the mix-tape. He is a great artist, a product of hard work and determination. Jeremiah’s production is awesome. However, a project like this should have been promoted more aggressively with events and tours etc or people will forget it and move on. Lastly, no more mix-tapes, lets hear albums.