Victony’s “Very Stubborn” vs “Stubborn”: The EP That Outshines the Album

Victony has never hidden the scars that shaped him. His rise has framed his music with a clarity few young Afropop artists possess. Victony has always carried himself like someone racing against time. Every release feels urgent, as if he’s trying to outrun the memory of what almost ended him: the accident, the surgeries, the difficult climb back into the spotlight.

When he released Stubborn in 2024, the album was praised for its ambition and emotional range. It positioned him as a songwriter with depth, not just another hit-maker.

But with Very Stubborn, an eight-track EP running just 24 minutes, Victony shows he now understands the value of precision. The project is lean, concentrated, and strikingly intentional. It does not attempt to impress with scope. It simply hits and scores. 

In a direct comparison, the EP reinforces the idea that his acclaimed debut LP was not a fluke. It’s the product of top artistry. Where ‘Stubborn’ spreads its wings wide, ‘Very Stubborn’ flies straight. The EP is so good, it almost dares to overshadow the LP.

The EP announces its intentions immediately. “Way Home”, featuring Shorae More, mirrors the opener on his 2024 album, but this time the sentiment is bolder.

Victony addresses a long-standing irritation: the digital-age sport of comparison.

This time, the gloves are off. Victony explicitly says, "If I check my Twitter, dem compare me to BNXN, compare me to Rema, compare to Omah Lay, gan." The delivery is not defensive; it’s reflective. He isn’t begging to stand alone; he’s insisting on it. And the subtext is unmissable: My story is different. My journey is different. Treat it as such. It’s a strong opening, and it frames the EP with purpose.

Across the middle tracks, Victony demonstrates the advantage of a shorter format: no wasted space. The 8-track EP makes for a project where each track has a clear purpose. This is a slight contrast to his LP, where some songs might appear to be fillers. 

The middle tracks show the genius of his collaboration strategy. “E Go Be” is a bouncy pop track. It features the legendary Don Jazzy. The MAVIN Records mogul steps onto the mic and delivers a phenomenal verse. Jazzy's input is the real shocker here. He arguably outshines Victony on his own record. His verse injects an unexpected energy that’s measured yet commanding. Jazzy doesn’t attempt nostalgia. He sounds fresh, comfortable, and sharp.

On ‘V.S Freestyle’ , Victony glides. He recounts ambition and perseverance without melodrama. The delivery is casual but not careless; it’s confidence earned, not borrowed. He brings on street-hop legend Terry G on one of the EP’s biggest songs, ‘Tanko.’ For many Nigerians, Terry G’s name triggers memories of an era when pop music was loud, unpredictable, and occasionally chaotic.

Here, he taps into that same raw energy, and it works. Victony doesn’t attempt to imitate him; he simply gives Terry G space to shine while holding the song together with composure. It’s a rare, clever blend of nostalgia and new-age, but not enough to top the consensus best song on the EP, “Skido” with Nigerian rap legend Olamide Badoo. While Olamide delivers an undeniable pop banger, Blaise Beatz deserves special credit for the excellent production.

Thematically, Stubborn and Very Stubborn are siblings. They explore resilience, gratitude, trauma, and ambition. But where the album offers many doors, the EP chooses one and walks through it cleanly.

Stubborn was a broad canvas. It featured marquee names like Asake, SAINt JHN, Teezo Touchdown, and jumped between styles. Critics noted its emotional maturity, but they also pointed out moments where the album seemed to stretch itself thin in pursuit of range.

Some tracks felt like exercises in versatility rather than necessary parts of the whole. It was a debut that wanted to prove capability. Very Stubborn, in contrast, commits fully to its theme. It is thematically tighter and emotionally clearer. It doesn’t try to be everything. It simply follows one thread with conviction.

The three final tracks of the EP are a clear example of this. ‘Ordinary Things’ strips away the noise of success and lays bare emotional fatigue. ‘Gangsta Cry’ speaks directly to personal pressure, public pressure, and even artistic pressure. ‘Amen’ closes the project with quiet gratitude instead of loud victory. The sequence is elegant, and the message lands. No song feels misplaced. This is what cohesion sounds like.

The Stubborn LP was hailed as a "successful attempt at a debut." It was applauded for its lyricism and impeccable collaborations. But its 14 tracks sometimes felt like a lengthy journey. 

It sought to be everything for everyone. In contrast, Very Stubborn is surgical. It takes the best of the LP's ethos, the defiance, the resilience, and delivers it with ruthless efficiency.

Where the Stubborn album gathered its strength from ambition, the Very Stubborn EP draws power from intention. It doesn’t necessarily seek glory; it seeks to be honest. It is not trying to represent Victony’s full range; it is trying to say one thing clearly. And it does.

It’s not crowded with collaborators, but the ones who appear serve the story. The production choices are deliberate. The writing is focused, and the pacing is intentional.

The EP is coherent. It is purposeful. It is the more emotionally effective project. It is, for these reasons, the better project. It does not twist and turn. It does not reach for extra colours when two or three are enough. This restraint is what makes Very Stubborn the superior project. 

It feels like the work of an artist who now knows exactly what he wants to say, and has cut away everything that distracts from that message.