The Trio of Pipi, Bobo, & Dede announce their presence on the naija music scene with a 13 track offering that somehow exceeds all expectations. With seasoned beatmakers like K-solo, OJB, Puffy T, Rhymzo, Sars, ID cabasa, Phyno & Sunny smile on board, Plus one set sail through the uncharted waters of naija reggae/dancehall genre. With guest appearances limited to 4 tracks, only Benjamin, Nigga raw, Rhymzo, the late da grin, Reminisce, Ugo, Seriki & jahbless get invitations to the voyage.
The album opens up with the Sunny smile produced “yaa ya” featuring Benjamin which sets the tone while Nigga raw spreads some eastern love on the K solo produced “afurum gi nanya”. Rhymzo does double duty on “plus one love” which is unsurprisingly the best song on the album. What makes the song exceptional is the way they metaphorically shine a torch on the ills pervading our beloved nation. With simple lines in pidgin translated as “some have enough to eat, while some are starving, some are killing children while some are yet to give birth, some are sharing money, spraying money while some are jobless”, they successfully send out their conscious message. They declare the party open with the groovy and rhythmic “eye me (touch something)” over K solo’s silky piano keys and on another lush sunny smile production “na you ee” they extol the virtues of the apple of their eyes and openly reveal their inner emotions.
With Sars and Puffy T on the beat, it was simply impossible to go wrong and the result was their smash hit “tinkonko” which has enough energy to keep the crowd moving and the dance floors packed. The OJB produced “because of ur love” is another gem on the album where they successfully hit timely and satisfying notes at unexpected moments and with lyrics like “because of ur love, I dey float for water, sweet thing, I know you dey make my head dey scatter, sun mo mi, I will love you better, you too much eeee”, it is clear to see that three heads are definitely better than one.
Plus one show just how vocally talented they are as they rarely stray off key, which is quite evident on the phyno produced “one kiss”. The album gets a huge dose of hip hop on “tinkonko (remix)” featuring the late da grin, Reminisce, Seriki, Ugo, & jahbless but it is Reminisce who shines with his highly commendable & show stealing verse. The phyno produced “oh lord” where they plead with the almighty to turn their water to wine and their red sea to dry land brings the album to a perfect conclusion.
Plus one’s debut album “commercial class” is undeniably a solid debut and even though they might still be viewed as underdogs, it is just a matter of time before they are mentioned in the same breath as the legendary but defunct boy group Plantashun Boiz.
RATING – 9/10
PLAY – Yaa ya, Plus one love, Na you ee, One kiss, Because of ur love, Tnkonko, Tinkonko (remix), Oh lord
SKIP – Handsome Nigga
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