Timeless Review: Davido delights with album but keeps emotions in check
Davido puts tragedy behind him to release his first project in over 2 years and it could his most successful album yet as he re-establishes himself at the forefront of Afrobeats royalty.
After a lot of storms and setbacks that threatened to throw Davido’s life and career into disarray, the Afrobeats superstar released his fourth studio album, Timeless, to the world on Friday, March 31st, 2023.
Anticipations were all-time high with many looking forward to David Adeleke’s first post-COVID project. The longing was also partly because of the singer’s son's tragic incident which made a section of fans look forward to how he would channel his emotions into music.
On the first listen to Timeless, it became obvious that the Atlanta-born singer had not dedicated any song to the incident and it was business as usual for him.
In several interviews granted by the music star, he expressed that the album had long been finished before Ifeanyi’s passing. The only thing left was to press the ‘release’ button and the album would go live. However, tragedy struck and the singer had to mourn and mend his broken heart and those of his family members.
Whether he will do that in a separate project or altogether exclude that aspect of his personal life from his music remains to be seen, but it would have been unfair to have asked the artiste to remake a whole album, even if there were some ostensible modifications.
On Timeless, Davido brings to the fore his acute awareness of the dynamics of the music industry. Testament to this is the heavy infusion of Amapiano which is evident on virtually every track. One could hear also Davido punctuate his lines with pop expressions like ‘sungba’ and ‘pokotua’ (credit to Asake and Portable, respectively).
Also, the producers he enlisted, from Asake’s telepathic producer, Magicsticks, to Blaisebeatz, are red-hot at the moment and he didn’t let their skills pass him by. The appearance of Asake and Fave is not surprising given the former’s unprecedented dominance and the latter’s striking talent.
For Fave, born GodsFavour Chidozie, it’s a sizzling run of appearances as she has now featured on albums of Olamide, Simi, Ajebo Hustlers and T.I Blaze.
The 17-track Long Play (LP) is introduced with Over Dem as David allusively reasserts his ‘victory’ over all ‘Goliaths’ with God on his side. He references his uncle Ademola Adeleke’s governorship election victory, among other blessings.
In the Garden features one of his new signings, Morravey, who impresses with her Chidinma-esque voice as Davido breezes in and out of the song. With Unavailable, which is already the delight of TikTokers, Timeless is an album that has something for everyone. E Pain Me shares some sonic semblance with Fall and a 2baba or Tekno feature could have elevated the track. Away is a song of supplication while Precision reminds one of CDQ’s Nowo e soke.
Fave-featured Kante is a personal favourite along with No Competition featuring Asake. Na Money with the input of the legendary Angelique Kidjo and the phenomenal Cavemen gives the album the much-needed range. On Picasso, one would have easily mistaken another DMW signee Logos Olori for Wizkid, such was the identical flow. LCND, another personal favourite, is in honour of Davido’s fallen men and has the potential to outlast the album. Solid pop track. The album rounds off on an Amapiano note with Champion sound featuring South African star, Focalistic.
Even though 17 tracks appear long on paper, 11 of them fall below the 3-minute mark, as David keeps things simple. For Timeless, the DMW boss is able to blend his album-making template with the present industry dynamics while maintaining the popular plot of hedonism, affluence and heartbreak.
It is difficult to argue against Timeless being Davido’s most cohesive project yet as he once again re-establishes himself at the forefront of Afrobeats royalty. Many records have been shattered already in just a few days after release and it could end up being Davido’s most successful project yet - perhaps a silver lining to the tragedy.
Expectedly, many members of the 30BG club expected an outpour of emotions but given the album had been finished a long time ago, Davido stuck to his game plan and delivered a resounding hit project.
The only downside of the album is Grammy-worthiness. Grammy exclusion remains a stick critics flog Davido with, primarily because his contemporaries - Wiz and Burna - have a gong apiece to their name, not to mention numerous nominations.
Davido has none and Timeless - despite the crazy numbers it is doing - does not have the crossover appeal. Much has been said on the 30-year-old’s struggles on the Gramophone front though and the singer himself says he hardly pays attention to awards.
Nonetheless, Timeless is timely, delightful and devoid of any pensiveness. Davido deserves credit for such a remarkable re-entry after a tragedy-induced hiatus.