A colorful, soulful, and upbeat selection of afrobeat, R&B, and hip-hop tunes by the talented Echezona, Enyi is a fantastic listen from start to finish. A beautifully crafted and crisply finished product of pristine quality, Enyi is very easy to fall for.
A culmination of years of hard work and dedication to his craft, Enyi is Echezona’s latest release, produced and recorded at JPRiSM’s Boston, Massachusetts. Enyi is loaded with profound lyrics and calming tunes that are all uniformly colored in afrobeat’s soothing syncopated beats and puffy drum sounds, alongside the genre’s immense focus on melodies and upbeat and soulful flows.
Among the album’s 9 original tunes, ranging from the sunny and bright to the downtempo and melancholic, there are clear standouts that feature exceptional lyrical, rhythmic, or melodic ideas. Among those are definitely the starter, aptly titled ‘Amazing’. ‘Amazing’ is a peppy and lovable piece of pop-infused afrobeat that glistens with its melodic pizzicato riff, a standout throughout the album. ‘Amazing’ introduces Echezona’s sweet and flirty lyrics, as well as his affinity for prominent melodies, and JPRiZM’s production skills. From the first moments of the album, it gets pretty clear that we are about to embark on a fulfilling and beautiful-sounding trip.
‘Truthfully’ doubles down on the chill, downtempo afrobeat cues with its minimal instrumental, distinctive percussion, wealth of vocal layering, and with the song’s general affinity for softness and gentle nature. ‘Truthfully’ is one of the album’s prettiest cuts, with some of its most catchy hooks and compelling lyrics. The melancholy thickens with ‘Flaws’, the album’s 4th cut. ‘Flaws’ features the album’s most addictive vocal parts. Soft and accessible, ‘Flaws’ has a wealth of vocal layers that elevate the cut alongside the syncopated beat, wooden synth bass, a litany of breezy synth melodies that populate the background, and some of the album’s most heartfelt and real lyrics.
‘Evolve’ is the most summer-ready cut on the album. With its palm-muted overdriven riff driving the song with surgical precision, filling the mix almost single-handedly, ‘Evolve’ moves forward at a delicate pace that is held together via Echezona’s addictive flows and lines. The penultimate ‘Wetin Dey Happen?’ features the album’s quickest pace and one of its most involved arrangements. With its intricate, fast-paced, and syncopated beat, and busy synth and guitar riffs, ‘Wetin Dey Happen?’ is just slightly cacophonous, with JPRiZM’s masterful hands keeping the mix perfectly balanced, a difficult trick to pull for a cut that is as bustling as this one.
Enyi features some truly striking songwriting alongside profound and thoughtful lyrics that do justify, on their own, giving this short and sweet album a try. Echezona comes across as a mature artist with a distinct and well-defined sound, working alongside a talented collaborator who effortlessly brings all his songs to life, and that is producer JPRiZM. Enyi is a fantastic joint release that is wholly ready to receive a hot and sandy summer season, knocking right at the door.