Seyi Vibez struggles to balance ambition and identity on 'Swaguu'

Adeayo Adebiyi 15:00 - 22 September 2026

Seyi Vibez wants something. It’s the wider adoption that can help him fill venues across Europe and America. He has wanted it for a while now.

When Seyi Vibez parted ways with Dapper Music after a successful half-decade partnership, he teamed up with global music powerhouse EMPIRE and he released the song ‘Pressure’ to kick off this new era in his career. While the song marked the inception of another chapter in his journey, his predominant use of the English language, a complete shift from the pulsating Apala/Fuji fusion and jabbing flows that shaped his previous releases, suggested an ambition to reach new listeners with the help of a label that has assisted Nigerian pop stars like Fireboy, Asake, and BNXN in achieving the same.

In 2025, when he released the album 'Fuji Moto,’ the easy pop records ‘How Are You,’ ‘Universe’, ‘Ama,’ and the French Montana-assisted ‘Pressure’ were testaments to concerted efforts to ease Western listeners into his sound. Like other Nigerian pop stars who have courted attention in Europe and America, he made a musical trade-off that resulted in sacrificing his core artistic identity of indigenous sonic exploration and street engagement for songs that could make him more relatable in rooms in London, Paris, and New York.

On his latest album ‘Swaguu,’ executive produced by Burna Boy, the indefatigable Seyi Vibez doubles down on his international ambition, which stands in stark contrast to his artistic identity. Across the Atlantic, he attempts to curate a new identity. He adopts edgy fashion to be cooler; he embraces mid-tempo, swingy production, writes more in English and makes a project that can be premiered in London and Paris. The intentions are perhaps clear, yet the output of this international ambition leaves a gap.

His desire to adopt more refined melodies accounts for songs like ‘Volume’ and ‘Diamond’, where his writing is weak and delivery is belaboured. The limitations of his melodies and the obvious inability to colourfully share his thoughts in English with the effectiveness he does in Yoruba are exposed in ‘Melanin’, where the piercing flows that shaped such records in his previous works were clipped to accommodate more singing. Seyi Vibez is simply not a good singer. His melodies, when accentuated and shaped around Fuji/Apala vocals, find identity. His stinging pop rap flows and street-shaped lyricism find structure in suitable Afropop productions. When stripped of this identity and forced to sing predominantly in English on Western-styled pop production, the product is a weak song like ‘Back 2 U’, where nothing about it flatters the artist.

Even when he sings about love and yearning on ‘Alafia,’ his Westernised Yoruba pronunciations are vexatious, as is his decision to sing in a manner that clearly doesn’t flatter his voice simply because he wants to make a song that could attract streams from target Western markets.

When these songs that are stripped of his artistic character, are placed next to his supplications on the Apala-inspired ‘GOD,’ the thumping Amapiano fusion and street-leaning ‘Pansa,’ and the spirituality of the folk record ‘Ilome,’ it’s clear why they are the better records. It’s because his artistry is easily reconcilable with the records. Similarly, his essence as a leader in the street exists in records like ‘Alubarika’ and the viral TikTok tune ‘Akpan Akpari’. It’s also why DJ YK could score a smash hit with ‘Oble’ by sampling a line from his song.

'Swaguu' holds two worlds: the one Seyi Vibez wants to belong to, and the one he's already found his feet in. It's easy to see which one he excels in and where he struggles. Ambition clashes with identity, and he struggles to find the balance needed to create a quality body of work. Between making a global play, wanting so badly to be cool, and retaining his places on the street, the project simply lacks identity, and it doesn’t help that he doesn’t have much to sing about.

But ambition is something Seyi Vibez should have. Since impacting the mainstream in 2022, his tireless releases have made him among the most streamed musicians in the country. His verses are sought after, and he has the great Burna Boy executive producing his project. Surely, he’s meant to take his music to a wider audience. However, it has to be with quality material that has character, rather than one tied to no identity, experience, or purpose.

Seyi Vibez wants something. It’s the wider adoption that can help him fill venues across Europe and America. He has wanted it for a while now. He needs to find how to make the right music to achieve this without discarding the very essence of his artistry.

Ratings: /10