Babajide Salako, shortened and stylized as BABS is a rapper and songwriter working hard to carve his name into the history books. He grew up shuffling between the UK and Nigeria and the dual nature of his upbringing is immediately obvious in his discography. He can be found weaving his craft over grime sounds or Afrobeats, and sometimes he’s able to combine both by rapping to Afrobeat sounds with a heavy British accent and grime flow. “Shaye”, “Rabata”, “Stuck In My Ways” and “Felt Like Jay Z” are singles that have been released by BABS in recent times and the considerable success of those songs have helped lay the foundation for this debut project.
The debut project in question is a 7-track EP that sees BABS bringing his UK-influenced style and finesse to the Afrobeats genre. Released on March 26 under the imprint of Black Circle Music, the project reflects a man coming to terms with his own roots and embracing his ancestry, a notion that is captured in the title: BABALÁWOBABS. Streams in the hundreds of thousands have since followed the release but in terms of quality how high does BABALAWOBABS rank?
The project opens up with a stirring intro on which BABS sings his praises and affirms that he’s the f***ing man. He is supported by Twitter comedian and influencer Oli Ekun who adds a poetic touch with Yoruba literature. It moves on to “Reckless” and on this a socio-political BABS raps about police brutality that continues to plague the country. The titular track follows and brings with it a higher tempo. “On My S#!+” featuring hook god Buju is track 4 and the sounds are experimental to say the least, but BABS adapts admirably which is a marker of his versatility. “Kilode” and “Lituation” (feat. Reil C) are up next and are the potential party bangers of the project. Last on the line up is “Shutdown”, a partnership between BABS and the fast-rising Barry Jhay, a song on which both men express confidence in their abilities and talents.
BABS performs well on the project. If you can look past his occasional exaggerated British accent, you’ll find solid lyrical content. Punchlines are not numerous but his flow stays strong all through the project. He is a versatile artiste, that’s for sure, but at times he seems a bit out of sync with the beats, especially the uptempo songs. Perhaps a few more instrumentals like “Reckless” would have helped him be more in his elements. Buju’s performance is surprisingly underwhelming but the other featured artistes do well in contributing an increase in quality to the different songs the appear on. The production, mixing and mastering are all of commendable quality.
Standout Track: Shutdown
