Wande Coal Deserves More Respect

FAZENOTETV- Greatness is a product of talent that has been worked on and is perfectly timed, some level we can proudly say our own Wande Coal has attained. In this report, ANIE GIFT, looks at the musicians career, his influence in the Nigerian music space and the African continent at large.

From Mushin to stardom

The music career of Wande Coal is a lesson in persistence and hard work. Spanning over twelve years, since 2006 when he went professional, Black Diamond, like he is popularly called, has not looked back. He has kept the pace in churning out hits upon hits and giving his shoulder to younger artistes to lean on.

Coal, who started as a dancer, has made his style of music, Afro pop, accepted and one most artistes want to experiment. Some of his early songs like ‘Bumper To Bumper,’ were, and are still club bangers. With these kind of songs, he built a repertoire that has made him one of the best singers and vocalist of his time, yet very underrated.

Honing the skills under Mo’Hits

Wande Coal, under the Mo’Hits crew, was a student who learnt the ropes after he was signed on account of his sheer talent in singing and dance. His voice texture is akin to golden and was honed under the master, Don Jazzy and his associate, D’Banj. The compilation songs of the group titled, ‘Curiccullum Vitae,’ showed the learning curve the singer went through. He was a D’Banj’s backup for a while but soon grew into a frontliner, releasing his own songs.

Songs like ‘Iskaba,’ released in 2016 and ‘So Mi So’ were great tunes that music lovers will always want to listen to and relish. What of ‘Baby Hello’ released in 2015 which gave Yemi Alade a cameo role in the video and ‘Wanted,’ also a 2015 hit?

Then there are his great albums like ‘Best of Wande Coal’ (2016), ‘Wanted’ (2015), ‘From Mushin To Mo’Hits’ (2009) and others. With these, he cemented his place as one of the most talented Nigerian artistes in contemporary time

Coal was born to sing and entertain, no doubt, and the 33-year-old was the toast of concerts and corporate gigs for some time. But he still has not risen to where he is supposed to be.

Perhaps what may have limited hid rise is his limited education and also failure to really promote his music. Most music followers feel that he ought to be bigger in relevance and stardom than what he is at the moment and rightly so.

We have reviewed some of his songs and brought out elements that we think make them interesting songs that should naturally propel the singer to high heavens.

‘Rotate’: A lesser singer would let the brilliant production win ears, but using remarkable songwriting instincts and tonal agility, Coal straddles Don Jazzy’s beastly big body beat with practiced ease, the best of a lot that includes ‘Baby Hello’ and ‘Kpono.’

‘Ashimapeyin’: Sarz’s beat is packed with wild electronic flourishes which many singer-songwriters would struggle to tame nearly as effectively as Coal has done using combative singing and varying florets of melodies. Sarz’s jittery beat, as if exhausted, disintegrates in the last quarter of the song. Rather than let the producer’s own showboating impress, the ever confident Coal smoothes over the disjoint with sustained notes in an impressive display only equaled by Wizkid’s performance on ‘Samba (Beat of Life)’ another stellar production by Sarz.

‘Taboo’: Damn near every bar starts or ends with a floral falsetto, a big bouquet of sweet notes that must require high motor control into order to alternate the tension of the vocal folds and nasal passages needed to produce it as effortlessly as Coal seems to have done – a feat he repeats on ‘Bananas.’

‘My Woman, My Everything’: Patoranking’s raga-rap is muscular and would easily overshadow a less acrobatic, singer but not Coal, whose own rap-singing, over the thumping beat, matches his cohorts in intensity and vibrance.

‘Kpono’: What better contrast to make, once again, than with Wizkid who, like Coal, embodies the best qualities in afro-pop; winning voice, astute songwriting and the catchiest melodies, though with a more consistent run of success. Both artistes keep up the singing pace with Maleek Berry’s heaving production but Coal does a better job of varying his singing with that finer timber natural to him, while Wizkid has textured his own singing with well-placed ad libs.