In 2010, Piego and Knowledge were young high school levers who met each other on a job as they tried to defy their respective ‘balanced’ backgrounds to make more money. But they had one thing in common; they loved and made music as independent acts. Around 2014, they had collaborated on a lot of quality records that it only made sense that they become a group.
Their name, Ajebo Hustlers, is inspired by their respective backgrounds and their mentality. They are Ajebo - from middle class backgrounds - while they also possess an uncanny hustler’s spirit. From the oil city of Port Harcourt, they made their way to Lagos with a dream and no dollar. One thing led to another, ‘Barawo’ became a bubbling under smash that slowly gathered love in Nigerian niche circles.
What attracted listeners to them?
Their music is a delicate balance of ratchet love-sex music and socio-political commentary, delivered in alluring, quintessential albeit eccentric pidgin, loads of street slangs and 'Nigerianism.' They deliver in a blend of Piego’s unique vocalizations and Knowledge’s street-wise didactic Rap music.
Their debut album, Kpos Lifestyle Vol. 1 is a representation of dense artistry, high musicality and impressive replay value with zero skips. At 30 minutes and 10 tracks, it’s perfectly measured and concise.
For perception, they are like The Cavemen in the pop scene. Their love-themed music attracts the ladies - a market which everybody craves - while their social commentary attracts a larger masculine audience. More importantly, they look like bad boys, but they retain their personable traits when you meet them in person and you realize that they’re romantics at heart.
Their Port Harcourt background doesn’t just influence their music, it influences their approachable personalities. The result is a highly relatable double act. You might not fully grasp the scope of their deeply-rooted Pidgin which has a lot of slang, but the relatability sells their music and you just make a subconscious decision to enjoy it without reservations like you enjoyed Omah Lay’s hook on Olamide’s ‘Infinity.’
With more songwriting, street-wise slangs and less ‘vibes,' Ajebo Hustlers is also like a fine-tuned perfection of Tekno’s ‘effortless vibe machine’ tendencies. Stories that were told on records like ‘Yafun Yafun,’ ‘Symbiosis’ or ‘Oh My Home’ are not just beautifully scripted, they are attractive because of how Ajebo Hustlers told them.
They discuss sex with a lot of vulgarity, but you can only love them for it. You enjoy listening to this duo talk because some of their ‘doings’ are hilarious.
Only a Port Harcourt person will use “Shey na me and you, I don reach my bus stop…” to signify love or say that, "Zamo bless the work of my hand o, dem dey drag me like small gen but I be Mikano..." while supposedly communicating with God.
In fact, it feels like they are ready-made to run into where Tekno used to occupy in the Nigerian music industry - all things being equal. When they pop, they will really blow up in scary ways because Nigerians need this music, they just don’t know it yet.
In place of records like Tekno’s ‘Rara,’ they have ‘Barawo’ and ‘Oh My Home.’ In place of Tekno’s records like ‘Duro’ or ‘Pana,’ they have records like ‘Symbiosis,’ ‘Pronto’ and ‘Yafun Yafun’ or even ‘Sophisticated Iyawo.’ They also offer an added 'Rap' advantage over Tekno.
The most obvious reference to Tekno might be their post-chorus on ‘Barawo,’ which had a lot of intoxicating, yet incoherent lines, filled with onomatopoeia and word-like adlibs.
Sound and melody
Piego’s voice is sometimes like an instrument on its own. You can literally see hear this between 00:24 and 00:32 on ‘Yafun Yafun.’
But with this album, Piego and Knowledge prove that there is no act like them on the market. Where else can you hear records like ‘Symbiosis,’ ‘Pronto,’ ‘Sophisticated Iyawo,’ ‘Kpos’ and ‘Oh My Home’ on the market.
While producers like popular producers like Orbeat, Telz, Fresh VDM and 1da Banton produced large portions of the album, the beats sound fresh and different.
Even when Fresh VDM produces a record like ‘Solace,’ it was nice to see Ajebo Hustlers take the DMW-esque predictability away from Fresh’s production and Fresh some much-needed fresh perception. Guys, ‘Yafun Yafun’ and ‘Bus Stop’ are built on Bashment/Reggae Fusion beats, but with the way Piego attacked these beats, they sound like something else entirely.
A record like ‘Zamo’ sounds like something that RedOne could have made for Kat DeLuna during her time on Epic Records.
In a lot of ways, Ajebo Hustlers are also like Street-hop artists and that’s a compliment and a blessing. It means their music is far-reaching, provides sonic/stylistic variety and appeals to different segments of the Nigerian market.
They sometimes sound like a modern, fresher and cleaner version of 2000s Ajegunle Dancehall acts with better love songs and a cleaner brand.
By their formation, ‘Zamo’ is the type of pop-esque appreciation of God that Lagos men will love and lap up while 'Kpos' sounds like something that Mad Melon and Mountain Black could have made in 2020. These guys are renaissance men!
While some of these records had been previously released, they sound fresh and beautiful. Even their features are pristine. Nissi Ogulu deserves more praise for what she did on 'Symbiosis.'
The only thing that's holding this album back is proper marketing that puts the music in people's faces. There is absolutely no way people will listen to this EP and not lap it up, and that marketing strategy must not be streaming/internet-focused. This is music for the offline market... the mainstream. You gotta reach them.
First step is for Ajebo Hustlers to have more visibility, not just with interviews.
What a debut! Take a bow, Ajebo Hustlers.
Go and mount that throne.
Ratings: /10
• 0-1.9: Flop
• 2.0-3.9: Near fall
• 4.0-5.9: Average
• 6.0-7.9: Victory
• 8.0-10: Champion
Pulse Rating: /10
Album Sequence: 1.8/2
Themes and Delivery: 1.8/2
Production: 1.7/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.8/2
Execution: 1.8/2
Total:
8.7 - Champion