Dammy Krane's "Leader Of The Street" EP is poor followership material

jonathan

March 8, 2018 4:15 PM

Perhaps if he paid more attention to creating from his soul, and avoid cheap takes on trends, then maybe, he just might escape this sunken place.

Dammy Krane has an album out. When you cram 14 songs into a project, with a running time of 41 minutes, then things have moved from Extended Play zone to Long Play Territory. But he’s calling this an EP. Perhaps it’s a ploy to shift himself away from the weight of having an album, or maybe, just maybe, he’s convinced himself to believe that this is an EP.

But anyway, marketing semantics aside, Dammy Krane’s new project is here. “Leader Of The Street” is an ambitious title for a man who hasn’t scored a hit in three years, or led from the front musically.

Apart from contributing some songwriting to Davido’s projects, and suffering an injury at the hands of Wizkid (after allegations of being robbed of his intellectual property), the only other time Dammy Krane has achieved prominence as a musician, was his involvement and arrest for alleged credit card fraud in the US. Add that to some needless social media beef, and you have the summary of Dammy Krane’s popular mentions in pop culture for the past two years. More drama, less music.

Somehow, he believes he still has the love of the streets and the ears of the people. This project is unsure of what it provides. Whether experimentation or familiar sounds, Dammy Krane is unable to add conviction of any sort or character to his music. The defining section of “Leader Of The Streets,” is a throw-in of his ability into the buzzing ‘Wobe’ and ‘Shaku Shaku’ sound.

Krane dedicates 5 songs to that genre, starting with ‘Bad and Buji’, and rounding off with little effect or potency on ‘Shayo’. He doesn’t do enough to be a believable follower, and nothing here points to cultural leadership. If anything, he gets lost in the quest to be a part of something bigger than himself. A cringe-worthy effort at Trap on the listless cut, ‘Credit Card’, can add to this uninspired run of music.

Away from that, there’s some sliver of good material here. ‘Wonder’ and ‘Prayer’ are Afrobeat-inspired records that show that Dammy Krane isn’t completely stuck in a creative black hole. Perhaps if he paid more attention to creating from his soul, and avoid cheap takes on trends, then maybe, he just might escape this sunken place.

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jonathan