For someone who has consistently proven his sonic diversity and mastery across a wide range of sounds and genres, Rema has apparently not been able to convince his Nigerian audience that he’s not one they can lock in a box and make churn out the same sound over and over again. For a people that demand versatility and “range” from artists they consider great, Nigerians have proven their own lack of range in taste for music as they struggle to enjoy Rema‘s latest album, HEIS.
Rema is bold in his visuals and sound as he rebrands into a preacher of the Benin culture, but this is still not enough to convince the audience that this new sound is not so new. If there’s one thing about Rema, it is that he makes music as led by the spirit, and the success of every one of his “supposed” experiments is always loud enough to drown out the noise from the hating normies.
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The album, HEIS, whose title can loosely translate to uniqueness, supremacy, and an embodiment of an outstanding nature from the Greek language, is overall a high-energy project that’d understandably be enjoyed better at raves, clubs, and concerts. On the album, Rema highlights his greatness, culture, and superiority in the music industry.
On the album opener, “March Am,” Rema beautifully eats up P Priime‘s high-tempo, heavy drums and leaves absolutely no crumbs as he reasserts his domineering persona while also delivering a super catchy and repetitive chorus and hook. Immediately “Azaman” comes on, it makes you feel nostalgic as it reminds you of the era of Lil Kesh‘s “Shoki,” where Afrobeats caught your attention with the intro followed closely by the hook as he speaks on his attitude towards making money while highlighting made men he looked up to under the subject.
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On one of the lead singles, “HeHeHe,” he’s quite literally laughing at his haters while sneak dissing the entire industry as he proclaims himself the newest member of the “Big 4.” Rema announces the outdated status of the “Big 3” conversation and asserts that he has more greatness coming as he is yet to tap into his full potential. “Yayo” is one of the very few new songs on the album that appears to appeal to the Nigerian audience, and if I were asked to judge why, I’d say it’s because it’s the closest to what they’re used to as it has Asake written all over it.
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“Benin Boys,” the other lead single in which he featured Shallipoppi, is already going multiple times platinum in the streets, while the internet people, who only think their opinions matter in the grand scheme of things, are calling it a failed collaboration that should never have happened. “HEIS” is another track on the album that kind of appeals to the Nigerian audience as Rema calms down his high-energy delivery for it. The song also comes with a special deep African-esque sample on the hook, which adds a breath of fresh air and variety to the overall feel of the song and album. One would find it hard to believe it’s the same high-energy Nigerians that are complaining.
“Ozeba” is one track I know will suffer in the legs (hands) of African legwork dancers, so I’m pretty certain of its long reign as a top favorite from the album. Rema enlists Odumodublvck on “War Machine,” which embodies its title as it comes in the form of a war song in melody and lyricism. On “Egungun,” Rema channels his inner old-school Wizkid as he stylishly glides over the instrumental with reminiscent flows, while on “Villain,” Rema has us levitating with the background vocals playing underneath the chorus.
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“Now I Know,” the last track on the album, appears to be the most loved song on the album among online and offline listeners. It feels like the closest to what the complainers call the “regular Rema sound,” but more than just the sound, the message in the song carries a deep meaning a lot of Nigerians can really connect with on an emotional level. An immaculate album closer.
Although many claim HEIS is an experimental project, I am familiar with Rema enough to know that this is a legit era of sound, and it’s here to stay until he taps into his abido shaker and comes at us with an even crazier sound. For those that loved the Ravage EP, this album wouldn’t feel strange at all, but I acknowledge that music, like every other art, is subjective, and not everyone will like every work from an art creator.
