OBO opens his account for the year, with Highlife, love and wordplay on ‘Flora my Flawa’

jonathan

February 13, 2018 12:40 AM

Highlife. Davido and Fresh have based their relationship on Highlife, fused with pop elements.

With Davido, music releases are big deals. You get a sense of the anticipation and fanfare on social media surrounding just one record. First he tweets, then he tweets again, and then you get a video. The creative designs for the artwork roll out, fans beg for him to release it already, and then he teases some more, shakes his head one more time, drinks Hennessy, rolls it around his mouth and then gives you a date.

On the said day, every member of 30 Billion Gang, members show up on social media in full force, the entire DMW squad grabs their phones and lubricate their internet subscription to peak functionality, and then they gather, and do the countdown: “3…2…1…”Flora My Flawa”

The new song is out, and across social media, everyone in Nigeria who follows the music scene can’t avoid it. When you drop a record like ‘FIA’ to end the previous year, the New Year has to come with something better.

Fresh VDM is still the man in charge of Davido’s music right now, and it doesn’t look like he will be relenting any time soon. From ‘FIA’ to ‘Ada’, to ‘Mind’, he’s kept the records coming at a great rate, which is surprising. An artist with Davido’s status has thousands of beat thrown at him at every point in his career, but Fresh VDM has been delivering the goods, and he has to keep it moving.

What does Fresh provide this time?

Highlife. Davido and Fresh have based their relationship on Highlife, fused with pop elements. This time isn’t different, although where in the past, they flourished with more emphasis on the drums, this time, they go for a dominant local flavour. The lead here is the guitar, which creates a throbbing foundation for Davido to pour out his heart.

The theme here is love, and a love interest named Flora carries attention of the superstar. Valentine is around the corner, and Davido is simply securing his heart. “If nothing lasts forever, me and you go be nothing forever..” he sing via wordplay.

Elsewhere there there’s line that says “If your behind is my class o, I will never ever miss school,” and another that says “Your front turn to slippers oh…Cele go dey wear shoe…”

It’s a carefully written and crafted line designed for the mass market, with an eye on the meme culture, where everyone binges on punchlines. In 2017, Davido ruled this market, with ’30 billion for the account oh,‘Banana Fall On You’, and ‘Shuku Shaker, Aya Shoemaker’. ‘Flora my flawa’ already has the record stuffed with potential punchlines, and depending on if the record sticks, we just might have a new one.

‘Flora my flawa’ officially opens Davido’s account for 2017. Let’s see if it closes it for him, much like ‘If’ did last year.

jonathan