D’Prince’s ‘Frenzy’ [Album Review]

Album- Frenzy

Artiste- D’Prince

Features- Don Jazzy, Wande Coal, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Timaya, Bracket, M.I & Yung Breed

Producers- Don Jazzy, Baby Fresh, Altims Beats, Aone Beats, Spellz and Josh Beatz

Record Label- Mavin Records

Running Time- 1 hour, 18 minutes, 55 seconds

 Just as he sang about a certain girl called ‘Amina’ on a track of the same name, Frenzy is flashy but lacks substance. 

He has been waiting in the wings for quite some time now. After the success of his songs (Omoba and Ooze featuring Wande Coal) in 2009, D’Prince was the next artiste to be churned out of the Mo’Hits machine, which had already created stars out of D’Banj, Wande Coal and Dr. Sid. Sadly for D’Prince, that didn’t happen, as his debut album was pushed back several times. Irrespective of this setback, D’Prince remained relevant, thanks to his feature on Samklef’s mega-hit single ‘Mo Lowo Noni’ featuring Ice Prince and Wizkid, who have gone on to release successful debut albums, and his 2010 hit single ‘Give It To Me’ featuring D’Banj.

After the Mo’Hits split, D’Prince moved to his brother’s label Mavin Records. It was obvious that D’Prince was going to be the first act to be released under the newly formed label. I guess when it’s your time, it’s your time.

With so much time spent in the shadows, D’Prince is eager to show the world what he has to offer. He packs a total of 20 tracks on Frenzy (the deluxe version, which can be bought online has an astonishing 24 tracks).

D’Prince has never paraded himself as a ‘deep’ or ‘conscious’ artiste, so don’t expect depth on this album. What you will get from him are mostly party tracks. ‘Bad Girl’ the album’s opener experiments with country music and rock. The result isn’t that great, as D’Prince sings “I dey pop, I am not a pauper, drinks flying in the air like a chopper”’

Luckily, the best song on the LP follows; ‘Journey of a Thousand Miles’ featuring Wande Coal and Don Jazzy. It is a song that tells you that it’s never too late for you to chase your dreams. In it D’Prince gives his most inspirational line: ‘you don’t have to be told what to do. You just have to decode what to do. Don’t be waiting to be told, there’s a story to be told.’ The inspirational Omoba gives way for the party animal on the rest of Frenzy.

Partying and decadence make up the theme on the first half of the LP as tracks such as ‘Goody Bag’, ‘Africa Zumba’, ‘Carry It Up’ featuring Timaya, and ‘Believe’ could easily enter the soundtrack compilation of Project X (a 2012 Hollywood movie of the craziest High School party of all time). D’Prince makes reference to this movie on one of the standout tracks on the album ‘Painting The Town Red’ featuring Wizkid. “Project X ain’t got shit on us, all the drinks you see is [sic] on us” sings D’Prince on the track with Wizzy.

D’Prince’s greatest calling card as an artiste is his unique ability to turn the nonsensical into party music. He does this well on ‘Call Police’- a track about the recreational use of weed on the dance floor. You don’t pause to ponder when he sings “smoke Igbo, call MOPOL, wheel barrow”. You are lost in the hazy frenzy.

As the disc enters the second half, Omoba gets into troubled waters. The former rapper tries to spit bars on a couple of songs ‘Real G’ featuring M.I and ‘Overdose and Jonzing’ featuring Yung Breed. M.I doesn’t have to go up a gear to run circles around the Prince of Mavin. Both tracks feature a D’Prince with a feeble flow and delivery that isn’t cock sure.

More cringe worthy lines pop up on ‘Shower’ when D’Prince actually says ‘my money wey dey ooze like chuku chuku’. On ‘No More Sleeping On ‘Em’ where Wizkid awkwardly boasts of having a 9mm gun like David Banner, D’Prince drops another wack line when he sings ‘I don grow o, I chop Don Jazzy fertilizer. It’s not something that you find in your Tantalizer’.

When a superhero is in trouble, his superhero friends come in and rescue him. Fellow Mavins, Wande Coal and Tiwa Savage save the latter end of the LP with their feature on ‘Ojoro’ and ‘Ife’ respectively. They help salvage the album as lackluster songs (Chant, Thank You) threaten to drown it.

Truth is, if D’Prince hadn’t stretched his album to over an hour long, it would’ve been better, especially with most of the songs in the first half of Frenzy. Omoba simply doesn’t have what it takes to keep you interested for very long. The production isn’t exactly varied, leaning towards the Electro pop sound.

Frenzy partially lives up to its name, as it boats of songs that fuel your party rage. It just doesn’t take you through the whole night as it runs out of ideas and gets low on creative fuel. You may have one hell of a ride bumping this album, but you’ll be left with a nasty hangover the morning after, wondering where the plot was lost.