Crayon evolves, excels and shines on his sophomore EP, 'Twelve AM' [Pulse EP Review]

First off, ‘Man Dem’ is a big jam. Second off, Crayon has always been as talented as anybody in his generation. On his debut EP, he was aspirational and love-filled, with a head filled with fros.

Crayon releases 'CRAYON EP' under MAVIN/Blowtime. (Soundcloud/MAVINRECORDS) Pulse Nigeria

These days, he’s evolved. He’s traded the ‘baby boy’ for a more fierce look. He traded colors for black outfits and included avant-garde fashion, by way of a necklace. He has traded the teenage female admiration on ‘So Fine’ for wanting to “Give am…” on ‘In Sync.’

He has also traded the admiration of a woman’s shape on ‘Unusual’ to dropping sexually charged bars like, “And I go jam your buttocks o, I get driver’s license and I go drive you crazy…” on ‘Too Correct.’

Even 'So Fine' has now become 'Too Correct.'

The transition isn’t strange anyways. On Cray Cray, he did brag that excessive ‘Confidence’ was causing him insomnia. His growth is also apparent in his features.

While ‘Cray Cray’ had no features, Twelve AM has four star assists - one of those comes from across the Atlantic. Fans also got the long-awaited Rema feature on the Amapiano-infused Afro-pop record, ‘Too Correct.’

Again, this isn’t coincidental. On his last EP, he did tell his audience to ‘Bamiloke.’

In English, ‘Bamiloke’ means ‘Meet me at the top.’

Crayon might not be where he wants to be yet, but he’s generated sufficient moments with impressive records like ‘So Fine’ and ‘Kpano Kpano.’ He’s also garnered himself a Headies nomination in the process.

The constant for Crayon remains his immense talent. From all indications, with Crayon's form on the record and with Rema’s recent run, ‘Too Correct’ sounds like a surefire smash - all things being equal.

However, the best song on this EP is ‘Man Dem,’ an Afro-swing record which features English act, One Acen. Built on a legato bass strings, it borrows percussion from acts like J Hus or WSTRN.

More than anything, ‘Man Dem’ seems like a statement of intent from MAVIN/Blowtime, and it is for a European/UK sojourn. This Crayon drive is also likely to be more aggressive.

The goal is to hit the ‘Jackpot.’

With Crayon on this form and his A&Rs drinking healthy beers on my tab, the only real problem with this EP is its length. Fans needed two more songs - at least.

That said, credit must go to MAVIN for the intentionality of their branding. Yet again, they aced it and god is in their details. For what they chopped on to board, Andre Vibez, BabyFresh and London should also drink beers on my tab.

This writer is feeling magnanimous.

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

Songwriting, Themes and Delivery: 1.8/2

Production: 1.8/2

Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.8/2