Album review of ‘Mighty God’ by Emmakeyzz

African music has again undergone another sonic resurgence. It has never been a new thing, however, this time around, the practitioners have been optimally exploring the best of the moment. Nigeria seems to be aware of this as the artistes, producers and record label owners continue to step up their game. From the record-shattering moves of Burna Boy, Wizkid and Davido in the Afrobeats world. It is not restricted to secular music alone, Mercy Chinwo has been globetrotting African countries and other parts of the world for the past two years. Her feat has been the catalyst for other giant moves by gospel singers.

More albums are being released, more live sensation arches are being explored by the singers, and  the days of being restrictive when it comes to sound seem to be in the past. Myriad languages are being explored to pass the message. One of such artiste that have taken me by surprise is the Nigerian-born singer, Songwriter and stage performer Jaiyeola Emmanuel also known as Emmakeyzz. His May 27, 2022 body of work titled “Mighty God” continues to exhibit the change in the gospel industry.

Emmakeyzzy, an accomplished musician with a unique mastery in songwriting, performance, and music direction. His proven wealth of experience has taken him across the world. The 2015 graduate of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State had previously released “Declaring His Wonders,” in 2015. He has been the lead vocalist and music director of Mountain of Fire Ministry, Highlife band.

He has performed in events in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Uganda in the last five years. His pristine performances have not been limited to African countries alone, he has also performed in Dublin, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobbago.

The seven-track project features artistes like Temitope Kumnandi and Uchenna Okereke with a running time just one minute short of half an hour.

A solo piano chord run begins the opening track “Only You,” the run was cut short by the backup singers whose line were “all creation worship, all the head bow to you,” by the time Emmakeyzz’s vocals comes up, the tone was already set for the lively ministration. The songs on this album are structured in such a way that it can do more than one task, the singer serenades the listeners, taking them through a spirit-filled time out. It’s a multi-language type of song, this way, it appeals to more demography. Emmakeyzz moves from Yoruba, to English language, it’s swiftly done.

Emmakeyzz seems to sing in a language, then subtitled it in the next verse, take for instance on the Praise propelled track “Yabo Praise,” he sings in Hausa language, then sings almost the same thing in English. On this Jazz feel type of song, the singer profusely praises God for the love and support while vowing that only him deserves the praise and honour. The sultry instrumentation makes the track more tuneful. Almost every instrument on this song comes off so well, by the time the instrument goes the percussion route on the two minute mark of the song, you are bound to sing along.

Temitope Kumnadi brings a neat flavour to “God of Fire,” she takes the song to a new level while retaining the essence of the song. This song sparsely had lyrics, the instrumentation does the job as it gives off a gyrating feel, it even makes the sparse lyrics less noticeable. Emmakeyzz innate power of striking up melody is commendable, he brings it to bear on most of the tracks on this album.

“Agbara Ajinde,” begins with a cut from a public evangelism. Just as expected the Gyrating feel continues on this track with the track resting its oars on the percussion with loftily delivered backup singers. It is mostly sung in the Yoruba language with a copious tribute to the English Language. It’s a call-to-action song in which the singer calls on God to perform wonder in his life.

The feel-good type of song continues on “Mighty God,” an eponymous title for the album. It is a spirit-filled type of song with the backup singer all bringing their A game to play as they complement Emmakeyzz. Uchenna Okeke, the dazzling gospel singer was on hand to help out on “Okaka,” the Igbo word which means greater than the greatest, they both leveraged on each other’s strength on this song. It’s a beautiful rendition. “Almighty God,” ends with the Jazz-inflected “Jesu Gbami,” with the singer mournful singing about the state of the world while praying for God’s mercies. It’s a plea for help in the face of life challenges.

Emmakeyzz is a well-guided artiste, there is always a purpose for every line, instrumentation and tone used in this album, no doubt, a lot of thoughtful thinking must have gone into this, and no wonder, he continues to grace the biggest gospel concert within and outside Nigeria.