Boy Spyce announces himself with debut EP [Pulse EP Review]

Boy Spyce seems like a talent with a clear brand direction. He had been buzzing with freestyle videos in the Nigerian underground before he was snapped up by MAVIN. In fact, there was a little bit of a bidding war that MAVIN won by being MAVIN Records, with all its powers of persuasion and track record of success.

With silky, searing vocals similar to Victony’s, Buju’s or Fireboy’s, he’s like an evolution of Highlife and Apala singers. The beauty of his voice type: When he sings, there is a leftover melody hanging behind his cadences, and vocal exertion. It’s so amazing!

‘Desire’ portrays him as a Benin City native, which triggers exciting prospects of a Benin adlib-filled Rema collaboration in the belly of some fans like this writer. But on ‘Dreams,’ he shows linguistic dexterity by sparingly singing in pure Yoruba. Then there’s the blend of Pidgin wash and the 6lack-esque TrapSoul delivery that starts from 00:41 on ‘Bad Things.’

In recent memory, MAVIN has also introduced its artists with less teenage blues, replete with reluctant innocence, but with more panache, lewd language and expletives. Spyce follows a similar path, which offers insight into the desired target audience of young adults. In truth, we can also argue that modern Nigeria is filled with teenagers who can easily relate to explicit content. Thus, this type of content might be for everybody.

More than anything, Boy Spyce EP is a showcase of his exciting talent. The only real letdown for anything associated with this EP is its art. This writer can’t see a correlation between the music and a colorful cover of the artist wearing expensive fur, while clutching a rabbit.

All in all, Spyce’s project is good. The last MAVIN ‘activation’ to have an exciting range on this level was Ayra Starr. Like Starr, Spyce triggers curiosity in listeners, which will be sufficient to see them constantly return to the project. At first listen, ‘Desire’ feels like a peerless creative zenith on the project.

But on subsequent listens, ‘Bad Things’ feels like an incredibly underrated cut. It feels like a low hanging fruit that will age as well as Rema’s ‘Corny,’ off his debut EP. ‘Wayo’ is exciting lamba from a soul of musical mischief, while ‘Nobody’ is an age-appropriate love song that triggers pictures of a lovey dovey video, under a mango tree in the mind of visually enabled listeners.

Regardless, ‘Desire’ still remains a cornerstone.

Ratings: /10

• 0-1.9: Flop

• 2.0-3.9: Near fall

• 4.0-5.9: Average

• 6.0-7.9: Victory

• 8.0-10: Champion

Pulse Rating: /10

Album Sequencing: 1.8/2

Delivery: 1.5/2

Production: 1.7/2

Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.6/2