Armaan Habib
Bute Street Festival Director
If you thought you were going to take it easy with Rema’s new album, HE THOUGHT OTHERWISE. The new project titles, HEIS, is a great statement of him as an artist having fun with music and feeling chained to the character we had been introduced to in 2019.
Sonically, the project straps you into an intense flurry of beats which has been curated by Rema and his team to best portray the vibe he has been on in the months leading up to the release. I also believe that this was the right choice in order to differentiate him between the genre biggest and also his fellow countrymen in Wizkid, Burna Boy and also Asake making the massive strides he has post-pandemic.
The singles released for HEIS were ‘BENIN BOYS’ and ‘HEHEHE’ in the month timeframe leading up to the release and really showcase what he wants you to know and feel. The former being a collaboration with another Benin City artist in Shallipopi, an outlandish showcase of both artists taking pride with each other and in their hometown to represent, first and foremost. The latter of the singles, ‘HEHEHE’, is an ode to not caring about what ‘they’ think and with most artists we, as listeners and fans, can understand that this feeling needs to be strong when you know the music that the artist is bringing to the table has context and gives his strongest fans a place to eat at the afrobeats table. This is most apparent in the first line of the song which is recurrent throughout, ‘Monday morning, talking about me while I’m making money’.
My initial reaction to the project was for it to be ‘injected into my veins’, please and thank you. The project and Rema’s ability to bend the genre to his will is an apparent version to me, as what Playboi Carti has done to rap/trap. The tracks, ‘EGUNGUN’ and ‘HEIS’ really highlight this. To create a new branch of subgenre and create a punk sound that really does scream that they don’t give a **** and will look and especially sound good doing it.
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