Debut albums are always a big test, It’s either you pass it or fail miserably. Did Kunkeyani fail or pass? Well, here is the Zed Hype Mag review.
Since he stepped on the scene,Kunkeyani Tha Jedi F.K.A just Jedi or Kunke in short has been such a marvel to watch and listen to. From tearing up Peezy Cables‘ beats, as a clique the K.I.C.K.S with his best friend K Slayer,raising LEVELS with Reverb, making a a special appearance on Chef 187’s Amnesia etc, all these moves led to the very day he would finally bless the game with his first offering KUNKEYANI the album on 18th August 2019.
Starting off the album on a sombre mood on a J Hun beat and a Keisha hook, is a track tagged Cry Again. Kunke raps his heart out and displays his ever creative wordplay even as he talks about the depression that creatives go throug and Keisha on the other hand does justice to the hook.
He then invites Daev to help him offload love tailored lyrics on ‘Treat You Better‘,where Reverb reminds every listener of a good producer he is.The collaboration is tailor made as they correlate and keep the concept of the song making it a Beautiful piece!
Teazy and Era Black co-produce track 3 and allow Kunkeyani to bring his Obi-Wan alter ego as he effortlessly body bags the trap beat. At the point of the album we’re expecting another heavy hitter, he then surprisingly mellows it down with T-sean on It’s Okay. T-sean brings out his A-game on the chorus as Kunke calmly sorts out the verses like the pro he is. Arguably contender for next single, with rapper Bobby East already asking if he could be considered on the remix.
Before we get in our feelings he invites Bow Chase and Macky 2 to bring the Good Vibes. Eazy makes sure his presence goes unnoticed by dishing out an instrumental that would be a hit even without vocals.The 3 three wordsmiths slay the Eazy beat with ultimate ease.
Meanwhile he reminds us the importance of loyalty as he allows Jay Rox to run the chorus and he brings out a Kunke ‘partois flow’ we’ve never heard before with Kenzville Marley handling the production. With loyalty done he takes us to Kabwata in the company of Dark Knight. Trap/HipHop is back on this one as Reverb handles the production. Kabwata was well represented by their Jedi aka Lyrical Master.
Era black calls him from Kabwata to live today, slows the tempo and we get the Peezy Cables-Jedi, the one that was featured on Amnesia or perhaps the king of the new wave. Things are getting tense at this point and we reverse back to headphone music. Same ingredients and recipe with a Jay Rox chorus, Kenzville Production and Kunke lacing the verses we get Over Di Hills.
Could there be New wave without The F.A.K.E? Never! Kunke takes them on Boo’d up with a Jay’que assistance as Eazy does the magic on the sounds. We end the album with Rich and Famous with Bek Zela, Killa, Chanda Mbao and J Hun doing the needful on the trap beat.
Thinking it’s over?….Skrrt Skrrt, he puts together a creative bonus track where he raps in the Kunke way giving the album the end it deserved with Eazy.
With the only hurdles being the duration of the album and after such a long wait, a couple of more songs would not have been such a bad idea. Localizing the album with mainstream acts like Yo Maps or 408 Empire would have made it even more spicy as evident from T-sean‘s presence on the record. It seems the album was intended to cross boarders, which is understandable but in doing so, Kunkeyani Tha Jedi might have starved some local fans.
Lastly, the magnitude of such an album being launched solely on SoundCloud,OMG! Nevertheless overall rating is as follows;
**************RATINGS***********
SUBSTANCE: 5/10
PRODUCTION: 8/10
ORIGINALITY: 6/10
OVERALL: 6.3/10
