THE GUY:(An Enthralled Listener's Album Review).

THE GUY is the 7th solo studio album by the African rapper number 1, MI Abaga. He burst into the scene in 2008, and since then, Mister Incredible has been one of the successful rappers in Africa. Comprising 12 songs and released with the Incredible Music/Chocolate City record label, The Guy is MI’s first full-length release since 2018 and his seventh album overall. It features an all-star cast including Afrobeats stars Olamide, Phyno, Wande Coal, The Cavemen, Duncan Mighty, Bnxn, Ossi Grace, and Chillz, as well as US hip hop icon Nas. 

The album opened up with the album track titled "THE GUY", with the rapper diving in to introduce himself. He goes from referencing God's goodness to setting the record straight in case anyone had forgotten that he's the best in the game. At the same time, hinting that he has passed his beef days with other rappers in the industry. "I'm a five-star general in the rap game. I've done my thing, top of the rap game in three different decades, call me king". 

"The guy" Is followed by a response to all the hatred he has been getting from other rappers. "The Hate" is a track filled with classic diss tracks but without the usual name-calling. The hate track is an open response to everyone who has ever harbored or who is harboring any hate for him. He narrates his importance in the game as the way maker while warning young men to learn the necessary respect for elders. 

MI features renowned American rapper "Nas" along with rapper and Afro sensational artiste, Olamide on "Bigger". MI goes rational, bestowing reliable nuggets of wisdom on how to stay on the ground and climb the ladder of success. Nas was just Nas on the track; he reminded us that he's one of the greatest rappers ever. While Olamide's abilities on the hook brought about calmness to the surge of "The guy". I'd say this is one of my favorite tracks on the project. The bigger track is where the groove of the album begins.

Soft life Tony featuring Lord Vino, gives more of a light-hearted reference to the need to make money. "Your knack go long, your vex go drop, your mess go nice, your chest go pop". MI encourages men in his raps to make money as he outlined the benefits in "Soft Life Tony". 

The filters in "Front Door", which features Duncan Mighty, was just the perfect love interlude. "Crazy" utilises the pure and melodious voice of Ossi grace as MI goes in to talk about the irony and also tackling of toxic love on social media.

Like front doors, MI returns with another love performance on "The love song". This time around, with Wandecoal on the track, It is a wedding party-ready track. The love song is more like an introduction to MI's love in his own words.

At this point, it's necessary to state that MI recently got engaged. Which could be said to be a motivation for the next track, "The inside". MI raves about the woman in his life with some beautiful wordplay and a wave of sweet-sounding flow. This track features The cavemen and phyno's palm wine-induced Igbo flavour as they offer sweetly-scented highlife melodies. This also turns out to be another one of my favorite track on the project. 

"Daddy", which features chillz, is the end to the love rendition. Daddy is a club-ready banger as it simply gives sugar daddy vibes with MI telling his play toy how much he loves her wiggle and bouncing for daddy.

MI amplifies his message on the track "Soldier", featuring Tomi owò, which touches on men really. Tomi owò's voice is bracing as ever on a ruminative deep cut. They both went from the good to the bad and the ugly, including depression and suicide. As he says, "they tell us boys don't cry, but they don't tell us why, so when tears starts to fill up my eyes, I wanna hide". The message here is that it's OKAY to be vulnerable as a man. 

Next on the line is Oil featuring Afro sensational artist BNXN. Oil is a lamentation by MI asking God why he's constantly betrayed, as it has an underlying tone of a "hustler anthem". 

The next and the last track of "The guy" album is more like a family reunion as he joined his long-time close friend, Ice prince and his brother Jesse Jagz, a reunion for the game-changing trio of rap artists that formed the record label, chocolate city. They celebrated their journeys and toasting to the good life in "More Life" with opening ad-libs from ice prince, easy and harmonious singing from M.I and rap from Jesse. Jesse went on a bragging session about how they were having fun with drinks and smokes while recording the song. I can say this is a befitting way to end the album. 

"The guy" is astonishing as an album as it starts with a ridiculously awesome trap vibe. It had me wondering if it was a drill drained as well because there was something about it that was like trap and drill. The album is beautiful as it strikes a balance between afrobeat and hip hop. Generally, I expected heavy hip-hop-inclined beats with MI wrecking them with hot bars and punch lines. The outcome was quite surprising.

The guy album peaks at #20 on the UK apple chart, becoming the first 2022 Hip-hop album by a Nigerian act to peak in the Top 20. This proves that the sound is embraced. 

 Listen to the album here:THE GUY , THE GUY

Ratings: 8/10