ALBUM REVIEW: Rexxie plays at a higher league in ‘Big Time’

In ‘Big Time,’ Rexxie assembles a durable group of work as he aims to display that he’s more than simply the go-to fellow for Street hits.

There can’t be a talk on the development of Nigerian Street music beginning around 2000 without referencing Rexxie and his notable commitments.

As a young fellow in the college, Rexxie conveyed a career-characterizing beat for Slimcase whose ‘Shaku’ sound cleared across Nigeria’s soundscape and introduced another era of street music, an Era Rexxie would proceed to play a noticeable job.

After making his name as the go-to maker for any act who wanted to score a street hit, Rexxie would proceed to become synonymous with Street music as he gladly took ownership of it on his introduction project ‘Afro Street’.

His presentation album ‘A True Champion‘ reported his surreal ascent to fame and this is easily reflected in the heavyweights he was able to arrange for the venture. And while several tunes on the undertakings are unmistakable, they fail to meet up as an intelligible collection of work. This is a familiar failing that has plagued street acts. Notwithstanding turning into the Street champion, Rexxie wanted to be more than simply being the go-to fellow for Street music albeit he gained fantastic achievement and two Grammys awards from this tag.

For his sophomore album, ‘Big Time’ seeing the manifestation of something else altogether is easy. One where he isn’t chasing hit tunes or attempting to assert himself as the Greg Kurstin of Street music. He appears to be engrossed with assembling a strong group of work that transcends past his primary base and sonic familiarity. To go by the title, he wishes to pull out all the stops.

While Amapiano is a shared factor across his introduction and sophomore albums, the previous had a more street-facing cadence while ‘Big Time’ is more delicately curated for a Pop audience.

Indeed, even while utilizing a dominant Amapiano sound, Rexxie was able to refine it to squeeze into Pop space that makes for more appeal and balance.

The Pop bearing is obvious in the principal track where Lojay conveys a mid-rhythm tune over a Rexxie delicate kicking Amapiano beat. Lojay’s pop conveyance is a component that’s monotonous all through the venture.

Ready to come in case of an emergency ‘My Phone,’ super couple Ajebo Hustlers switches between a Pop conveyance and smooth rap which is similar to what Alpha P and Azanti did in ‘Dinero’ where they added some Trap streams over an Amapiano beat.

The collaboration that Alpha P and Azanti display is also tedious in Teni and Sarkodie’s ‘Fallacy’ as well as ‘Lagos’ where Busiswa, L.A.X, and Shashie join without a hitch. The manner where the featured artists achieve a far reaching partnership is a testament to great A&Ring as well as the careful curation that goes through the album.

Indeed, even in Street-pop records like ‘Taka Oshi’ with newbie Berri Tiga and ‘No More Condition’ feat Zinoleesky there’s a basic sonic cadence that’s achieved through a Pop conveyance.

Rexxie effectively tweaks the basic Amapiano subject to squeeze into various familiar Afrobeats regions. In ‘Lagos,’ the Amapiano leans towards the synth-driven South African variant while in the club banger ‘Abracadabra,’ he utilizes log drums which is Nigeria’s primary Amapiano part.

In ‘Credit Score’ feat Zlatan and NSG and he adds Drill components through the application of the log drums and in ‘Again’ feat BackRoad Well he conveys a Swing beat as he investigates the dual UK sounds that have interacted with Afrobeats lately.

While topically, the album doesn’t retain a dominant subject, the sonic intelligence that utilizes a basic Amapiano sound with Pop leaning speaks to Rexxie’s expectation. And as far as the title is concerned, it presents him to be more than simply the go-to fellow for Street music.

In ‘Big Time,’ Rexxie initiates the assistance of the Afrobeats superstar as he looked to display that he’s more than simply the go-to fellow for street hits.

With creation credit across all 12 tracks, Rexxie displayed his talent that reaches out past party starters. His creation on ‘Slow Whimper’, ‘Fallacy’, and ‘Again’ offers understanding into his capacity to play at the degree of different makers who are thought of as versatile. Also, his utilization of violin in ‘Dinero’ is a statement of his ability to create something almost identical to the unmistakable part of Magic Sticks beats.

The album achieves a thorough listening experience, especially for its sonic lucidness and the cooperative energy between the collaborators.

Overall, ‘Big Time’ is a notable enhancement for his introduction album as it takes Rexxie’s abilities past the singular extent of Street music while situating him for more achievement.