#AlbumReview: Simi comes out bare on 'To Be Honest'
Simi has got pens and tongues wagging again with her fourth studio album and here's an honest review of the music project.
Despite what seemed to be not-so-impressive publicity towards the release of To Be Honest, Simisola Bolatito Kosoko (nee Ogunleye) released her fourth studio album and seventh music project overall on music streaming platforms on 3rd June, 2022.
Releasing an album is a big deal and a landmark achievement for an artiste. It is expected then that an album release is pushed to appear on social media trends, a move which will ultimately translate to charts but it appeared the Duduke crooner relied heavily on her combined 16.4 million followership on Tiktok, Twitter and Instagram to do the trick. I expected more in that regard, and equally from Naira Marley who dropped his debut album around that time.
The aforementioned notwithstanding, Simi underlined her music credentials again with To Be Honest, bringing to the fore once again her songwriting brilliance, storytelling prowess, vocal strength and sonic range.
Above all, the title reflects the album aptly. The mother of one came out bare on the 11-track LP, discussing her background on the Story story track, being born in Ojuelegba like Wizkid and how she’s paid her dues on her way to stardom. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she didn’t claim the cliché ghetto narrative, instead labelled herself an “ajebo in the ghetto.”
She only learnt to hustle after university (she attended Covenant University by the way), making demo after demo, catching only two-hour sleep per day, hoping for Asa and Drake to notice her. Making music seemed like the only right thing for her, not any 9-5 job and her persistence eventually paid off. She also mentioned the lucrative gap that exists between gospel and secular music and it was a no-brainer decision for her to switch sides.
The 34-year-old award-winning singer also had words for people who are only brave behind a keyboard to attack her on social media, disloyal friends and backbiters.
With the appearance of Adejare and Adekunle, it is safe to say the album preaches family first, with fast-rising music sensation, Fave, the only outsider in the body of work. The appearance of the Baby Riddim crooner on TBH suggests the high esteem in which the singer-born GodsFavour Chidozie is held in music circles. Little wonder she is in line to win Headies’ Rookie of the Year and the Best R&B Single.
Eleven tracks were enough for Simi to include some party jams in Logba logba and Easy, with Deja’s giggles on the latter track particularly refreshing.
A downside for TBH has to be Simi’s audio engineering. It is one of the things she is good at but it makes her sound monotonous, especially the way in which her autotuned voice resonates, and it is not just on this album, but even on a couple of previous projects.