- A tour de force of rugged rap over pulsing Afrobeats and baile funk from one of Nigeria's most vivacious MCs.
- This August, the city of New York celebrated what it called hip-hop's golden anniversary—50 years since DJ Kool Herc set up a pair of turntables and a mixer at a Bronx party on August 11th, 1973. Many fans and historians are uncomfortable pinning an exact date to the origins of such an important cultural movement but the genre's evolution over the years certainly merits celebration (particularly when it comes to the emergence of more women MCs). On the African continent, the fiery wordplay of artists like Sho Madjozi, MC Yallah, Nah Eto and Dyana Cods centre femme and women perspectives in a traditionally male-dominated field, proving their mettle across a multitude of styles like horrorcore, gangsta rap and R&B.
Nigeria's Aunty Rayzor, born Bisola Olugbenga, is part of that group. Also known as Naija Thugress, she fires off powerful prose in both English and Yoruba that combines the ferocity of Lil' Kim with the theatrics of Nicki Minaj on top of Afrobeats, trap, grime, drill and dancehall productions. Swaggy, vulnerable, sultry—Olugbenga can do it all, often in a single track. Following her 2020 single "Kuku Corona," an unofficial pandemic anthem in Nigeria, Olugbenga began working with Kampala's Nyege Nyege collective, embracing the crew's experimental club sounds. On her debut album, she shows off her stylistic range and piercing flow, presenting herself as a serious performer ready for world domination.
Viral Wreckage features a dazzling cast of collaborators who are behind some of the most exciting cross-genre pollinations in dance music. "Bounce" is big, bodacious baile funk with a quivering bassline that lives up to the track's name (courtesy of São Paulo's DJ Cris Fontedofunk). Olugbenga raps as if she's in the middle of a full-body twerkout, articulating verses with equal amounts of sex appeal and control. "Doko" takes on a more West African tilt, with interlocking drums and commanding vocal chants that create the feel of a spiritual folk song. Olugbenga's versatility is on full display, as she jumps from shrieky, dark verses to a slick, well-rhymed chorus to conversational banter.
The trap-leaning offerings are some of the album's best. On opener "Stuttrap," the metallic snare drums by DJ Scotch Rolex are perfectly staggered to match Olugbenga's zig-zagging bars while plump, bassy synths create the charged feel of a cipher battle. Olugbenga comes off as sinister but sexy at the same time. She's particularly powerful on "Murder." Rapping at breakneck speed against Debmaster's nocturnal and futuristic drill beats, her verses channel anger and violence, taking listeners into the darkest depths of her inner stream of consciousness.
As hard as Viral Wreckage is, it has some tender moments, too. "Fall Back" shows off Olugbenga's sensitive side. Her voice softens yet stays firm as she sings of falling in love, her gentle tone buoyed by the undulating cadence of Congolese singer Tiki Bakorta, whose honeyed lilt adds a delirious effect. His coos invoke a firm belief in the universe and fate, like the fool card in a Tarot card deck.
Describing her artist name in one interview, Lagos-based Olugbenga summarised her rap identity as "a sharp knife that is quite small but can really cut deep." Cutting is the right word for her delivery—her words have a serrated edge, punctuating with acute precision, while her flow is rich with dramatic flair and panache. Viral Wreckage is a technicolour record that depicts a well-rounded artist in her prime and with the determination to leave a mark in hip-hop history books.
Tracklist01. Stuttrap
02. Doko feat. Slimcase
03. Nina
04. Bounce
05. Never
06. Fall Back feat. Titi Bakorta
07. Tobaya
08. Melodious Monk
09. You Not Worthy Of My Love
10. Tonedo
11. Murder
12. Sise feat. Titi Bakorta