Album Review: Kiss Daniel tells all on New Era
– Kiss Daniel’s New Era is a gorgeous kiss-and-tell semi-autobiography, our reviewer says
– The baby-faced singer, known for his 2014 smash hit Woju, brings it all on his sophomore effort
– Olamide famously made fun of Kiss Daniel on Lil Kesh’s LadiAlbum cover and track list for Kiss Daniel’s New Era
Ogun-born Anidugbe Oluwatobiloba Daniel aka Kiss Daniel started off his career properly in 2014 with the smash hit Woju followed by another competent banger Laye. On the former, he gave us a peek into the life and times of Kiss Daniel who was different from the introverted A.O. Daniel when he opened seductively: No be you I carry come but na you I go carry go.” With those words Mr. Kiss morphed into the players’ playbook Ko Gb’oge Wa by Yinka Best. Self-assured Mr. Kiss was going to ‘steal’ your girlfriend right in front of you, and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it! This personality isn’t annoying, narcissistic as the average Casanova; this one comes playful with loads of humour, and you may not be wrong to classify him unassuming on first date.But on the smoky Good Time the mist clears and you can see the ‘real’ Mr. Kiss telling you to kiss your lover goodbye for the night: Iyawo mi gan be ni le, just to make it clear he’s got a lover after he’s done with your girl. DJ Coublon-produced Good Time has that ‘70s Jazz sound holding a seductive power of distracting from Mr. Kiss’ intention—while you move on the dance floor, he makes a move on your lover for a private dance. Masterkraft read Mr. Kiss’ playbook to grasp the terrain of Sin City writing a brilliant adventure. So, you’re truly “welcome to sin city” as our guide says, “I can take another brother’s girl straight to bed—Me freaky!” Once you understand that one of Mr. Kiss’ musical influences is 2Face, who is known as an unrepentant flirt on record (cue Flex), you notice the similarities outside vocal styling. On Vado’s- badder version of Kiss- adventure, the unrepentant seducer meets all kinds of ladies and some he categorizes as “loose” (Raba), others are the infamous women of Allen Avenue (Molue). In all, one thing connects these women: they possess voluptuous backsides (Molue, Good Time, Napo). You will forgive the flirt in Kiss for loving big booties; haven’t there been theories in nature explaining such preference?
On aforementioned, Napo, label mate, Sugarboy, acts as wingman for Mr. Kiss on the excellent galala track, seducing “plenty girls” with their fat pockets worth at least N3million. Money isn’t a problem when he politely asks: Can I be you man? Elsewhere Mr. Kiss moves away from using his money as asset to relying on his sleek talk on one of the album’s standout, Mama: To be sincere, I’d do almost anything for you. With pop singers in the habit of promising heaven and earth to ladies, Vado tones it down to be vulnerable in his quest. Though he isn’t all successful as a certain Kudi, short for Kudirat, or is it Labake, kept him at the door preventing his love from flooding her heart. For whatever reason perhaps the fear of Mr. Kiss’ love flooding both her heart and thighs and eventually leaving her. Some may call him petty for keeping record of what transpired on February 24 years ago. But is he being petty, after all he got dumped 10 days after Valentine’s Day. Like Kudi, Kiss can’t be with Amaka (Jombo) and her “big belle” not because of Amaka’s refusal but her parents’ disapproval of love across ethnic lines. Mr. Kiss tells a serious tale rather humorously that you forget the issue at hand and dance to the Igbo rhythms of highlife. Another love interest on his adventure happens to be the one who left him for Alhaji with big bucks (Are You Alright). Are You Alright sounds like a drunk-text to an ex with pretension buried behind every question about well-being.Women are not the only focus on New Era; Kiss Daniel takes time to address his come-up and struggles as an up and coming act on Alone and Another Day. Opera-driven Another Day contains the haunting line about music label contracts keeping artistes tied for long years with little artistic control and benefits, while bata drums assist the success of Alone. Another musical influence, 9ice, shows up on the underwhelming Gobe. Testing the waters of another influence Ed Sheeran- whose take on that sensual activity was masterfully executed over acoustic sounds- also fails on Kiss Me.
Notwithstanding the lapses in inferior artwork and lengthy tracklist that accommodated album fillers, Kiss Daniel remains the heir to the pop throne, and has been endorsed by pop superstars 2Face and Wizkid when they individually released covers of his hit songs. Understanding his relevance in the music scene, Mr. Kiss was quick to lay claim to his new status in New King, addressing the Headies Next Rated snub, and mapping his territory for contenders to steer clear. News of Kiss Daniel being the next king of pop has been flying around prior to his debut album so it was expected when Sean Tizzle- who was previously touted as the next king following success of his own debut album- weighed in on twitter. With this album, endorsements from pop idols, conversations among critics and fans, growing fanbase, certainly this is a New Era.
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