The volume of music being churned out daily has turned the industry to an even more unforgiving place and new artistes have to hit the ground running or forever play the game of catch-up. For a certain Jayblu Ovie, he throws his hat in the musical ring with this five-track project under review. Released on the 28th of September and cheekily titled “From Blu To You”, this marks an introduction to the first phase of what is hopefully a long career of young singer and songwriter.
He kicks things off with “Odo”, a song that easily has the makings of an anthem. The lyrics are simple and straightforward, the hook just falls within the limits of the right amount of catchy, and there is more than enough melody to keep the listeners interested. The entire package is one the average person can make an emotional connection to which is always a plus for any song. It’s followed by “Pull Up”, another Afrobeats track that employs the same formula that makes the preceding track work so well, a slower tempo being the major difference. It’s another satisfactory display of vocal prowess from Jayblu, because someone in possession of a voice like his might easily be tempted to do too much. Not him though, he keeps it simple and that simplicity best serves him on “Consider”, the third track on the EP. The instrumental here is somewhat more bland than the first 2 songs and that creates a bit of a gap in the project.
Track 4, whose placement could not have been better for a number of reasons, does a lot in filling that gap. Titled “Tell Me”, it bears the only feature of the project and Tari’s duet with Jayblu really helps refresh the listening experience just at the point when sonic monotony was threatening to dull the EP. He rounds up with “Dey For You”, an uptempo entry that plays its role as a filler track it was probably meant to be; it excites without being memorable.
From Blu To You is all about matters of the heart and Jayblu is a modern man oscillating through early and happy phases of love. The lyrics tell tales of love confessions, promises to be there at all times, adoration of a lover, and requests for assurances to quench insecurities. It would have been interesting to hear him explore the other, bitter sides to love but perhaps he’s saving songs of that persuasion for another project. He scores very high marks in areas of relatability of his lyrics and management of his vocals. His choice of melodies is another strongpoint in Jayblu’s game and if he takes necessary steps to improve on it even further he would become almost impossible to ignore on subsequent releases. It would also be interesting to see him dabble into more robust Afrofusion sounds that infuse more Pop and R&B elements, as opposed to the more plain Afrobeats instrumentals he used on From Blu To You. It is his first official release of any kind, but it’s not too early to tell that he’s well suited to handle the challenge of strutting his stuff on the richer soundscapes of Afrofusion.
Standout Track – Odo
Regardless of the next steps he takes, he can at least be proud of himself for getting off to a good start with From Blu To You. He would do well to send personalized thank you notes to his sound engineers for how well they handled the solid mixing and mastering that colours this project beautifully. It all comes together well for Jayblu Ovie, making this worthy recommendation to Afrobeats loving friends and family.
Verdict: 7/10