Rapper is currently in a creative wilderness

Ice Prince is in the music wilderness right now. That lonely, cold and infertile creative place where there is no sun, joy and inspiration. The rapper is feeling the blues and Nigeria has found him out.

We’ve seen this coming right from the lukewarm album ‘Fire of Zamani’, and now everyone can confirm that. How did the rapper get to this point? How did the once projected messiah of Nigerian rap music get to this point in his career where disdain, disgust and negativity thrive unchecked?

The rapper is working on another LP “Jos To The World”, which would be his third album. Prior to that he dropped a controversial body of work, “Trash Can EP”. Which also received not-so-stellar reviews. Ice Prince ought to be the most popular rapper with a huge number of dismal reviews. Critics hold dear the opinion that the rapper hasn’t lived up to his lyrical potential, as he chooses to find sanctuary in pop sounds, than rap tracks. And when he does go down that route, he comes out as unsatisfactory.

Another element of Ice Prince’s art, and perhaps his most defining characteristic is his swag and fashion taste. Ice Prince dresses like he just stepped out of a high budget music video. From designer kicks to suave jackets, the rapper always has his branding game on, and that has immensely been a great part of his career. The way he dresses, you might think Ice Prince’s success key is to “Dress to the top”.

Prior to the release of his single ‘Chike’, the ex-Chocolate City rapper put Nigeria on an anticipation drive, promoting his next project with vigor. Pictures were released, tweets were sent out, and a declaration was made. Ice Prince said ‘Chike’ was ‘the greatest song of his career’, and every media outlet reported with glee.

But no.

‘Chike’ dropped yesterday (May 19, 2016), and it featured a certain Jheri-curled boyish singer from Don Jazzy’s camp. Korede Bello got the nod for the single and together they released a track which had an uncanny beat similarity to Olamide’s ‘Abule sowo’. The song in itself was lackluster, with no love given to it. Twitter was on fire, and everyone called him out with delight.

What happened to Ice Prince?

The signs have always been there. The singer has failed to wow after “Fire Of Zamani” LP, with subsequent singles failing to impress. Last year, his single ‘Boss’, had the same issue, sounding like a cover of Victoria Kimani’s ‘Show’. His other single ‘Feelings’, was romantic trap, with no special effect, all others didn’t make the radar. ‘Chike’ which was prepped as the saving grace of his year, has hit a brick wall.

Ice Prince has felt the heat, coming back with explanations about the song’s creative process.

What Ice Prince needs right now is a reset on his creative process. Perhaps he needs to go back to the basics of his art, write new songs, get ghostwriters to help out with the composition and have more than just yes-men sanctioning his every move. He has been in this bubble for too long, and ‘Chike’ made it all burst.

He needs to leave the wilderness to truly come into his own and save the rest of the year. And to do that requires more than himself.