Within the eyes of the style’s followers, Popcaan will without end be considered a titan of dancehall. At any time when the Jamaican drops an album, there’s little must impress or show his value to anybody – he is aware of this monitor file, however on his third album, his newest for the Drake-led label OVO Sound, doesn’t he simply understand it?
The 34-year-old’s final launch, 2020’s ‘Fixtape’, was a mellow outing that felt impressed by Popcaan’s musical roots quite than furthering his musicality, and the identical could be mentioned about ‘Nice Is He’. In 17 tracks, we hear related themes all through: heartfelt lyrics of hardship, the emotional dialogue of self-perseverance and love. The subdued manufacturing feels repetitive and uninspiring in comparison with his older work, even when it’s arduous to completely zone out given his innate potential to make satisfying melodies.
His expertise for idiosyncratic melodies has at all times made Popcaan’s dancehall one of the vital memorable. ‘Skeleton Cartier’ is the largest second, a track which is, sure, overtly assured (“Dem nah see me is a dancehall pioneer”), but additionally bigs up his mentor, the currently-incarnated dancehall legend Vybz Kartel. Burna Boy, in the meantime hops on the proper pre-drinks anthem ‘Aboboyaa’ and utilises his older dancehall-esque MCing abilities from his earlier days. However typically, nevertheless, the beats are repetitive, or simply plain mediocre: listening to ‘Cry Fi Ya Physique’ proper after the tasteless ‘We Caan Executed’ seems like an extended, extra draining expertise than it must be.
On ‘Nice Is He’ – regardless of the label boss Drizzy’s lacklustre cameo – there’s lyrical maturity and evolution, sufficient to maintain weary followers on their toes, and to keep up his place on the high of the style. On ‘Subsequent To Me’, a collaboration with present girlfriend Toni-Ann Singh, he strikes away from his sexually express lyrics – or slackness, because it’s recognized in Jamaican tradition – and has created a surprisingly candy ode to romance, even when his pen hasn’t been stretched too far: “You don’t must run away / Keep proper subsequent to me”. It’s not the one time that the Portmore star branches out, and mellows out. The outro ‘Nice Is He’ takes on a gospel notice as Popcaan declares to “kill Devil and him evil plan”, and it is a far cry from the aforementioned slack tunes of earlier than.
Higher recognized for one-off dancehall hits and dubplates, Popcaan isn’t essentially anticipated to make a cohesive feature-length file, notably not throughout 17 cumbersome tracks. However on ‘Nice Is He’ he proves that the exuberant dancehall sound he’s recognized for could be tinkered with and remoulded, together with some undiscovered vulnerability. By the top, we get to see a extra well-rounded star earlier than us.
Particulars
- Launch date: January 27, 2023
- Document label: OVO Sound
