Kaestyle’s debut album is a display of immaculate style (Review)

Adeayo Adebiyi 01:39 - 18 September 2026

Kaestyle has always made fantastic music, even before he enjoyed mainstream success with his 2024 hit single ‘My Dealer’ featuring Omah Lay. He’s among the crop of Port Harcourt-born stars bringing Southern complexity to Nigerian pop music with melodies, lyricism, and attitude that boldly point listeners in the direction of their hometown.

His debut LP ‘Stylish’, coined from his stage name, like his past projects, delivers an elevated level of artistry that wows even listeners familiar with his abilities. His melodies are fresher, his flows sleeker, his writing holds more depth, his thoughts are clearer, the production is grander, and even his Port Harcourt identity is louder.

Across 15 tracks, he makes music like an artist comfortable in his own skin. One who has brushed off the pressure to pursue overt mainstream success. When he had a big moment with ‘My Dealer,’ he was true to himself, and he continues on this path of artistic originality while widening his artistry. He's been around for over half a decade and has consistently evolved in that time. In 2025, when he was nominated for the Headies Rookie of the Year prize, he replied with an EP that dismissed the notion that he's only just cutting his teeth. With his debut LP, he shows the quality of a true professional.

On 'Stylish,' he celebrates his wins, wears his heart on his sleeve, unabashedly shares his desires, highlights the socioeconomic plight of the average Nigerian, and calls on collaborators from his hometown for a project that caters to his ambitions and personal artistic desires as much as it does to listeners' gratification.

His familiar melodies ease listeners into the project with the sensual ‘Bucket List’. His colourful use of Pidgin English and storytelling on ‘Cairo’ brings Port Harcourt’s street identity to Trap Soul. When he taps the Port Harcourt-born duo Ajebo Hustlers to sing about hustle, ambition and purpose on ‘One Life’, it’s with the unbothered coolness only found in the oil city.

The album’s paced opening sequence doesn’t rob it of excitement as he moulds suitable melodies that open up his emotions. When he sings about love, heartbreak, and romantic complexities, it’s with a skill that underscores his love for rhythm and blues. He flaunts his vocals on the classic R&B production of ‘See Finish’, where he laments the pain of having his love and vulnerabilities abused. If his harmonies are a homage to the Western R&B icons, his writing ensures he straddles both worlds. M3lon’s piercing vocals float over the swingy production of ‘To Me’, where they narrate an emotional cocktail of toxic love and fiery sexcapades of the Port Harcourt boy variety.

While he’s comfortable in his voice, he didn’t hesitate to experiment with sounds or lean into socially conscious territory that is no longer particularly popular in the mainstream. He flirts with Jazz on ‘Proud of You,’ where he alternates between being the American trap soul singer and a loving Naija boy. He dissects Nigeria’s socioeconomic hardships on the folk ‘Bere’ alongside fellow Port Harcourt star Wizard Chan, who lets his pen bleed.

While the first half of the album leans into R&B and soul, the second half dives into Afropop and a modern interpretation of Highlife and Gyration steeped in South-South identity. He flaunts his cultural heritage on the celebratory ‘Eluwa’, where the percussion and his local language beckon grateful hearts to the dancefloor. The retro Highlife strings of the chest-thumping ‘Baba’ match the nostalgic melodies of legendary musician Eldee D Don, who reminds us what it means to make big boy music. The Port Harcourt musical godfather Duncan Mighty shares words of wisdom on the Ogene-driven Gyration ‘Saki Ofori’. On ‘Mama’, he sends a message to his mother by tapping into the Highlife and storytelling with which stars from the South, like Prince Nico Mbarga, used to score timeless hits.

The Port Harcourt-born star can do more than mould warm melodies. ‘Dey Go’ shows he can also deliver breathless Afropop anthems that dancers on TikTok can legwork to and ravers can get lost in. His smooth interpolation of Kanye West’s famous lines from ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothing’ adds a fine touch to the song. While this song is a bold experiment to perhaps work the charts and engage the powers of TikTok, this writer thinks it doesn’t quite flatter his ability. At the risk of playing a prophet, I will go as far as saying if it’s going to happen for him, it won’t be through such derivations. It will be through staying true to his melodies and the emotions that drive them. This is what delivered the big moment with ‘My Dealer’, and perhaps he knows this too, considering the type of tracks that shape this project. At any rate, this doesn’t take away from the quality of the album that puts the full spectrum of his artistic growth on display.

Kaestyle set out to make a great album, and he has achieved this with a project also ambitious in its originality. It’s the type of material that can help him fill up rooms with hardened fans who sing along to every word. What’s left now is how he builds his brand like an artist whose definition of playing for keeps extends beyond the charts.

On his debut LP, Kaestyle shows that he’s musically stylish as he sings on the swaggering funky closer. Yes, you are, Kaestyle. It was never in doubt.

Ratings: /10