Album Review: Seyi Shay's Latest Album Misses Mark On Originality

Making first impression comes tricky in a world that battles to no end amnesia, ADHD, dementia, and to a less alarming degree- without recourse to health complicated by technological advancement- the eight-second attention span of its populace.
Even talented music duo, RoofTop MCs, had to name their sophomore album The Second First Impression a tongue-in-cheek reference to their slept-on first offering.  The classic Shock Therapy could do little to jolt listeners to the consciousness of the début album’s existence. Fela had to dump Highlife for good when his brand was lukewarmly received, hooking up with Sandra Izsadore’s ‘black-powered’ philosophy. Eedris Abdulkareem never ceases to remind the forgetful public of his battles to make Nigerian music great despite political opposition, his latest being on DJ Jimmy Jatt’s Onile. EME’s Niyola gets the newbie treatment in spite of her Headies-nominated début album almost a decade ago. Sadly, awards shows tend to forget, too. Didn’t NEA become butt of a joke when Skuki and Oritsefemi got nods for Best New Act?

Seyi Shay’s maiden appearance on the Nigerian music scene was no different; to a large number that début failed to leave imprint on the sand of time—for Seyi Shay, however, that Sound Sultan hook-up was the start of a journey. For those asking, it was the BBQ-inspired visuals for Fashi Yesterday under the mononym Seyi with the camera zooming into her face for posterity. Seyi Shay’s ‘first installment’ of her second first impression arrived sometime in 2011 on Loving Your Way, aided by Flytime Entertainment. ‘Second installment’ of the second first impression was a year later, Irawo. It wasn’t till the Dokta Frabz-crafted 2014 Murda that Oluwaloseyi could truly say she’s made one. The success of the Patoranking/Shaydee-assisted mid-tempo hit did enough for an anticipated début album.
Copy-cat
But on Seyi or Shay, the UK-born songstress can’t lay (sole) claim to the success of her début album, as she borrows ideas, concepts, melodies, and reworks them to suit her interests. Credit should be given to all the muses and inspirations and existing templates that Seyi Shay used. Originality is something that you shouldn’t be disappointed at not finding on this album. Everything on Seyi or Shay has been done before, either by a Nigerian artiste or a foreign act—well, most of the ideas are copied and should one justify this with the biblical saying “nothing new under the sun.”
The first sign that Ms. Shay was ready to soil her hands with used ideas was on Irawo video; it lifted heavily from Keri Hilson’s Lose Control, revisited Beyoncé’s Déjà Vu and Baby Boy, with helpings of Destiny’s Child’s Survivor. Perhaps just as American painter Richard Prince has shown over the years: It’s not necessarily the ‘what is being copied’, but the ‘how’ of it all. And, also, the man behind Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child once managed Seyi Shay, might be reaching into Matthew Knowles’ manual. Then again, Matthew Knowles tried to create British version of the award-winning girl group but was less successful with From Above. One could be said to be nitpicking, which is fine for those yet to listen to her album and critically examine who exactly Seyi Shay is, what her brand is about, what her unique message is, and what sets her apart from the hundreds of music acts.