Over the past three years, FreeMe Music has been central to the success of Basketmouth and his cult classic, Yabasi, The Cavemen’s ROOTS and Magnito’s many creative risks and enviable niche successes.
Headed by former Sony West Africa boss, Michael Ugwu, the company now has Ninety (born on February 19th, 1996), on its books. While Ninety has been with the company for around one year, he recently released his debut EP, Rare Gem, a satisfaction of riveting melodies filled with an anthology of love stories, with each song weaved around a type of woman or a personality type.
‘Maintaining Beauty’ is weaved around the unbothered woman. ‘Hold My Side’ is created around the one-sided love-filled declarations of a loverboy. ‘Kiss and Tell’ follows the idea of ‘free giver,’ who can be easy to love. ‘Diamonds’ is created around something of Stockholm Syndrome, as Ninety’s character is in love with a slightly problematic, but lovable woman.
Central to the quality of the EP is Ninety’s unmissable great ear for beats. He then elevated each track with a live instrumentation support, by way of horns, guitar chords or organs. He even uses choirs and crowd vocals to elevate ‘Diamonds.’
By way of genre, he seems like a genre-bending winning combo, who also expresses via Dancehall and Bashment influences, by way of percussion, BPM or melody. If ‘Hold My Side’ is a bridge between R&B and Afro-pop, ‘Buttercup’ is a Dancehall track, which mimics Afro-pop, due to Ninety’s approach.
Even though he opens up with twisted patois tongue, the song piques when he blends Burna Boy’s flow scheme on ‘20.10.20,’ with Tekno-esque soul of lamba. Then there are wild lines like, “I fit travel go to Dubai with your voice” on ‘Maintaining Beauty’ or “My baby be like rizzla wey dey hold my ganja, she got the fire like a full lighter…” on ‘Hold My Side.’
Those are quite impressive instances of impeccable songwriting, from someone who has written for some of the biggest names in Afrobeats.
‘Diamonds’ is an unlikely R&B Ballad, with roots in Afrobeats. With positive affirmations, Ninety creates a tune for love season, if it’s properly pushed.
But don’t be fooled by his calm personality, Ninety also shows topical range. He mixes clean language with sexual innuendos on records like ‘Skip To My Lou,’ ‘Kiss N Tell’ and ‘Buttercup.’
Stylistically, he is like the post-Sounds From The Other Side product of the Wizkid school of thought.
He is calm and methodical with his words. His cadences on a record like ‘Skip To My Lou’ is also very Wizkid-esque. You can easily imagine Wizkid on that record, coasting with his signature vocals and alluring profanities.
His vocals are laidback and his approach to the music is usually not-so-dramatic. He just sticks to the basics, employs great lyricism and sings about great things. His approach aligns with his minimalistic appearance; handsome yet embellished with dreads, strong forearms and avant-garde sense of style, complete with dreads and limited jewelry.
While the music marks an incredible introduction to a talent, who has written for some of the biggest names in Afrobeats, there is a feeling that he has more in his tank. It feels like there’s so much more to be unearthed, and much more that he can do with his vocals, technique and approach to decimating beats.
There is also a sense of further personality to him, if his dreads are replaced with a cute Afro with a parting on the left side.
There is a sense that he could really become a heartthrob of women if he embraces a more ‘mainstream’ sense of style, even if it's populated by dark colors and limited designers. Across all tracks, Ninety is aware as he delivers numerous quotables with linguistic dexterity. He weaves English, Pidgin and Yoruba influences with effortlessness.
This writer enjoys this debut and looks forward to what Ninety could become.
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 Sequencing: 1.8/2
Themes and Delivery: 1.5/2
Production: 1.7/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.6/2
Execution: 1.5/2
Total:
8.1 - Champion