Album review: Kcee is not quite ready to ‘Take Over’

Forget the title of this review, if there is one artiste who ‘took over’ the past year with his ready to play, endlessly catchy pop singles, then it has to be Kingsley Okonkwo, the taller, lighter skinned half of the now defunct pop-duo KC Presh who found fame on the reality singing competition Star Quest back when it was still relevant.
Since attempting the solo route 2years ago, Kcee has enjoyed a few minor hits but struck solid gold in 2013 with ‘Limpopo’, a sugary sing along anthem that gifted him with a new lease on life and catapulted his career to red hot territory. Follow up singles ‘Okoso’ and ‘Pull over’ with Wizkid have kept him in brisk business and the endorsement deals and high profile gigs have been rolling in steadily.


His debut solo album ‘Take over’ is no better than it has a right to be and no worse than it could have been. There is a theme. If it sounds like ‘Limpopo’, and is catchy, melodious making as little sense as possible, then it is in. Also if it sounds like Flavour considered it not good enough for his ‘Blessed’ album, then it is perfect for ‘Take over’. Somehow, because, it is Kcee, it works out well for him. On songs like ‘Hustle your way’ and ‘Ogadinma’. Not so for our beleagured ears though as we have to go through song after song of similar sounding jingles.
His favourite producer Del B does majority of the work here and while some applause should be sent his way for ‘Limpopo’, both of them owe Wizkid a big one for ‘Pull over’’s insane popularity. D’banj is no longer as popular as he once was but he makes a fair attempt with ‘Emmah’, a throbbing sensual affair that sounds like Iyanya could easily have carried it. It remains one of the bright spots on a disc that features uninteresting assists from Timaya and Davido and even Man of the year Phyno phones in a depressing appearance on ‘Vitamin C’.
Del B’s trado-highlife union with hip hop beats and swirling local instruments start to bore about midway in to the album and there is only so much akatako one can dance. Nothing in sight can save the album from tanking hard and it does with odious material like ‘Ifeneme’, ‘Had it been I know’ and ‘Chineke di nma’. There is some face saving attempt to sound like Flavour in some songs- with the accompanying rants-  but they are too feeble to yield much result. A tidy 10 track listing of the least annoying songs would have made far greater sense.
But making sense isn’t particularly ‘Take over’s’ primary objective. It plays like a collection of songs from an artiste under pressure to present a body of work. Something to get out of the way while putting in work on that next massive single. That is afterall what will pay the bills, win him the Headies trophies and book him the appearances at the big shows.
Another ‘Limpopo’. Another ‘Pull over’. Another anthem to dance to. Give the people what they want. Who cares that the album is a disaster?