ALBUM REVIEW: Wande Coal – “Wanted”

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Artiste – Wande Coal

Album – Wanted

Guest Appearances – Seyi Law, AKA, Falz, Maleek Berry, Jimmie, 2face Idibia, Burna Boy, Wizkid & King Spesh.

Producers- Sarz, Xela, Maleek Berry, LeriQ, Major Bangz, BeatFreakz, Legendury Beatz & JFem

Record Label – Black Diamond Entertainment (2015)

Duration – 01:15:32

Saying Wande Coal’s sophomore’s album was “wanted” had to be a drastic understatement, so it was a massive and misleading cause of celebration when Mr. Coal’s follow-up to the acclaimed debut “M2M” was no longer a myth, but a lengthy 23 tracker LP (including 4 skits and 2 bonus tracks) tagged “Wanted”.

With Don Jazzy no longer in the musical picture, his absence reflected negatively on the “fast food” album which was created during the long wait. Questions surrounding the absence of an album after his earth shattering debut further fueled anticipation for the sophomore release.

Despite the rare flashes of brilliance proving that Wande’s instrument is still intact, “Wanted” shows no artistic growth and depth, rather it highlights Wande’s weakness as a poor story teller and his inability to be creative when under immense pressure to deliver.

For a more detailed analysis of “Wanted”, digest the track-to-track review below.

1. Intro ft. Seyi Law: Top comedian Seyi Law opens the LP with a very unnecessary near-funny skit.
2. Adura: Tribal melodies, synths and Wande Coal’s high pitched signature vocals officially opens the musical play “Wanted” with “Adura”. Wande Coals reflects on his journey to success and is thankful for God’s blessings on the pulsating number; a prefect appetizer.
3. Superwoman: Produced by Xela, the silky R&B ballad “Superwoman” is arguably Wande Coal’s best vocal performance on a track. Wande flexes his vocal chords and delivers very complex vocal acrobatics, while singing his heart out to his superwoman, while retaining the pop sensibilities he is known for.
4. We Ball: Maleek Berry is credited for producing majority of the disappointments on “Wanted”, like the very forgettable Chris Brown reminiscent “We Ball”.
5. Same Shit ft. AKA: Cut from the same fabric as “We Ball”, but tailored by a more experienced designer. Wande Coal enlists South African hip-hop titan AKA for the hip-hop influenced “Same Shit” but sadly he failed to bring any atom of magic to the table.
6. Monster: Wande Coal channels his racy musical persona found in clubs hits like “Been Long You Saw Me” and “Go Low”; all thanks to the fiery instrumentation crafted by production duo Mutay and Zei better known as Legendury Beatz. “Monster” which is arguably the strong song on the set; will remind any listener of the “Mushin 2 Mo’Hits” era, when Wande’s music had that “Don Jazzy touch”.
7. Skit ft. Falz: The skits on the album were purposeless and expendable nonetheless Wande ensured we were tortured, this time by the very likeable rapper and comic Falz armed with his spot-on humour.
8. Wanted: The album’s title track ends up as a gigantic let-down, despite been the centre piece of the LP. “Wanted” sounds like Major Bangz rejected production originally made for Phyno, Chindinma or illBliss. That said, we cannot deny the fact that he is very wanted.
9. African Lady: When “African Lady” kicks in, you cannot help but wonder why the set is jam-packed with very ordinary fillers.
10. Ashimakpeyin: Wande and Sarz work very well do deliver a decent street-hop gem. Side Note: Wande Coal should have work extensively with Sarz and Legendury Beatz.
11. Weekend ft. Maleek Berry: Wande and Berry finally deliver a very poppy easy-to-digest summer track. Maleek’s vocals were extremely refreshing on “Weekend”, it is a sexy, smooth and easy baby making number, dedicated to the weekend.
12. Plenty Love: From this land mark, “Wanted” starts to dip to a realm of mediocrity and useless fillers. This commences with the aimless “Plenty Love”.
13. Skit ft. Iamjimmie: Media personality, O.A.P, TV host, presenter and celebrated hype-man Jimmie introduces Wande Coal’s album at the thirteenth track?! What were they smoking? Epic fail!
14. Make You Mine ft. 2face: A Wande Coal and 2face collaboration is golden on paper, but “Make You Mine” is a testimony that not all that glitters is gold.
15. Lowkey: “Lowkey” is as clichéd, as cliché gets
16. Iyawo Mi: Produced by Davido’s “Owo Ni Koko” producer J Fem; the contemprary high-life “Iyawo Mi” fails to provoke any deep emotion.
17. Jelly: Guilty pleasure alert! Corny but goody! “Jelly” is a solid party bomb, hidden in the final minutes of “Wanted” waiting to explode.
18. Baby Hello: Baby Hello is an up-tempo dance number destined to start a dance bash. Kudos to Maleek Berry for the production.
19. Wanted (Remix) ft. Burna Boy: Please why was the original version of “Wanted” not disposed of & replaced with this Burna Boy remix produced by Sarz. Stronger! Better! Bolder!
20. Kpono ft. Wizkid: Wizkid and Wande Coal duet on the raunchy and poppy “Kpono”.
21. Outro ft. King Spesh: Hypeman King Spesh closes the album with a very annoying outro, which makes listeners cringe at the magnitude of mediocrity.

The bonus tracks “Amorawa” and “My Way” are gold and should have centerpieces but were not in action on the main set simply because of the misguided A&R direction of the album.