Siji Odusola
One of the major reasons for a remix is to improve a song from its original state by alternating, adding, removing or changing the elements of a song.
Unfortunately these terms were not considered properly by Nigerian award winning artiste, Reekado Banks, on his newly released single remix ‘Rora’.
Having said that, a remixed song should be refurbished in order to improve and replenish the original song so that it does not fade out easily. A good example is the Naira Marley ‘Is a Goal’ remix he released last year, which was well appreciated by his fans due to the increased energy on the song and unique vibe the artist added to the song through the artist he featured.
It is no doubt that the Afropop singer, Reekado, has remained consistent in the music industry ever since he released his first single ‘Turn it up’ under his former record label Mavin Records back in 2014, but his consistency might not be relevant if he continues putting out lagging songs.
The newly released single ‘Rora’ remix features a British female singer, Estelle Lavaud, making the song an embodiment of Afrobeats and jazz sounds. The original song was considered a hit record by his fans who took to their various social media handle to commend the singer after its release. However, the remix did not receive much of the accolades expected.
Music is an artwork that involves creativity but it seems Reekado Banks has refused to acknowledge that. The newly released remix features the same lyrics, rhythm, sound and production on the side of the singer except for the second verse which was done by the featured artiste, Lavaud.
Although the UK based singer Lavaud was able to input her unique vibe into the song, the remix sounds too dry as every lyric by Reekado banks on the original version of the song was repeated. Thus the featured artist was unable to upgrade the song as expected.
On the newly released song, the singer was trying to express his admiration for a lady which is well accepted but using adult language like “baby this your yansh na shitor, if you gree me mo ma la tan”, sounds too vulgar especially considering the fact that the lyrics might not be censored and the audience are both old and young.
Admittedly, Reekado has always been a multi-talented musician, loved for his voice and rhyme. He might not have done well with the remix of ‘Rora’ which was more like a redundant job with little or no improvement. All hope is not yet lost as his fans looks forward to his forth coming studio album titled “Uncmn” expected to drop soon.
– NAN
