9ice – Versus [Album Review]

To be the best they say you have to retire the best. Eager to be on top again, 9ice features the biggest pop stars on his 5th conceptual album Versus. On each track he features (or as this album is structurally designed- he goes against) acts such as 2face Idibia, VIP, Wizkid, Banky W, M.I, Timaya, Tiwa Savage, Psquare and others.

9ice should be encouraged for pushing out a conceptually driven LP in this day and age when everyone wants to play safe. 9ice Vs 2face is a good album opener. It might not be another ‘Street Credibility’ but it possesses enough soul for it to stand out in the album.

9ice Vs Wizkid as expected is a dance song chuck full with Yoruba phrases. The new wonder kid of Nigerian music dazzles on this Spellz-produced track. Wizkid’s boss and mentor, Banky W features on the next track. This isn’t really Banky’s kind of thing but he adapts well and even adds a few Yoruba phrases on his verse. It is a cool clash of two worlds on this raunchy track.

9ice enlists the help of hottest female pop act out now on 9ice Vs. Tiwa Savage. This might look like a mismatch on paper when one considers 9ice’s coarse voice and Tiwa’s smooth and sexy appealing vocals. But Tee-Y Mix makes it work; creating a very groovy song. This is one of the album’s strongest collaborations and should be pushed as a single.

The Alapomeji boss also features rappers on his new album. 9ice Vs M.I is a strong match-up. The re-worked Cheepho-track which now features a harder bass line sees 9ice taking shots at his (imaginary?) foes. M.I has one of his best cameo appearances. ‘We are the most incredible out of Nigeria/ everyone talks about our music in your area/ fever high lyrics killing rappers like malaria’, spits a flashy M.I.

9ice Vs Dagrin is a track that more than adequately delivers to its target audience. This song will bump in ‘Owambe’ parties for a while. Sadly 9ice Vs Modenine doesn’t live up to the previous rap collaborations. The song is incoherent and is all over the place.

On the 9ice Vs KWAM 1 song, 9ice pays homage to his Fuji roots by featuring the almighty KWAM 1. 9ice slightly outshines the legend on this one but that doesn’t hold the song back.

Like on the Basorun Gaa album, 18 tracks is quite a stretch. Also for such a conceptual album, a chief sound architect would have helped this album sound better. An ID Cabasa or any producer of his experience would have known how to make the album sound like one whole unit. Versus sometimes sounds like a collection of songs and not an album. Despite these however Versus shows that 9ice can go toe to toe with some the best names in the land even though he isn’t ready to beat some of them yet.

Rating- 3.5