YBNL label boss and multi-award-winning Nigerian rap legend, Olamide ‘Baddo’ released his 10th studio album ‘Carpe Diem’ on the 8th of October, 2020.
‘Carpe Diem’ is a Latin phrase for “seize the day”, a phrase used by the Roman poet “Horace” to express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can. Olamide marks 10 years with the release of his 10th studio album on the 10th month of 2020 and the project is indeed brilliant.
Olamide ‘Baddo’ is arguably the hardest and most consistent artiste of the decade in Nigeria. With 10 studio albums, numerous back-to-back smashing hits, and street credibility to back this claim. Having established his music presence in the Nigerian Music Industry 10 years ago, with his debut single ‘Eni Duro’, and to date, he has continuously blessed our radio, TV, devices with his creative ingenuity. To say the least, almost every Nigerian has a favorite Olamide song.
After being an Olamide fan for a decade, I took my time to listen to the ‘Carpe Diem’ album as a stern music lover, and today, I punch my keypads to share my 10 interesting talking points on Olamide’s 10th studio Album ‘Carpe Diem’. Here they are:
- 18-year-old producer ‘P-Priime’
P-Priime produced most of the songs on the album, songs like “Another level”, “Greenlight”, “Infinity”, Eru”, “Chimichanga”, “Shilalo”, “Loading” and so on. The ‘wonderkid’ is just 18 years old. Impressive right? His creativity to beat production is quite admirable, with lots of years ahead of him. While digging, it was interesting to know that he had been in the production game for a while now, with certified hits to his name such as Fireboy DML’s (Like I do), Dj Cuppy’s (Gelato), Zlatan’s (Unripe Pawpaw and Egungun) and so on. - Interesting topics and storytelling
On the album, Olamide talks about issues relating to his personal life, fame, money, love, women, and sex. Olamide talks about being on “Another Level” as a King and Mafia who achieve his goals without seeking any validation. He also talked about how “Triumphant” he is, with storytelling about his darkest hours, lonely times, losing his parents, and how much he wished they were alive to really enjoy his ever-growing success. He further weighs side by side his blessings and the hate the blessing attracts, with a tag “Plenty”. As an “ERU” Ku and a lavish spender, he enunciates why lavish living is a no brainer for him. What’s fame and money to a man without having someone to share it with? Therefore Olamide requests for a “Greenlight” as he dedicates his “unconditional” and “infinity” love to his “Chimichanga” and “Shilalo” with a promise to “Do Better”,. Olamide enjoyed himself on the album, expressing his good times with the ones “Loading”. - Olamide rebranded
Having attempted to rebrand himself in his previous album project “999” with a laid-back, cooler version of himself. Olamide, thoughtfully accomplished his ‘rebrand’ plans on this project as he interpreted each song gracefully with some cool bossy swagger. - Features perfect
Every song with a feature was a perfect blend. Round pegs in round holes. Great song interpretations, worthy of applauds. With Omah lay working his magic on “Infinity”, to Fireboy nailing his vocals on “Plenty”, to Perruzi serenading our eardrums on “Unconditional”, to BadBoy Timz and Bella Shmruda rising to the occasion, and Phyno dropping bars. The features were just perfect. Features perfect. - Olamide’s most melodious album
This album is arguably the most melodious album from Olamide in comparison to his previous body of works. With up to date sounds, good blend, melodious beat selections, and impeccable delivery. - No Album fillers
For those who don’t understand what an Album filler is, it simply tagged ‘below average songs’. There are quite a couple of track favorites but notwithstanding, no song is below average. - Olamide’s Shortest Album so far
When an entire 12 songs album from Olamide can be completed in 38 minutes, then it’s indeed very short in comparison to his previous body of works. Quite a number of songs on the album were less than 3 minutes and this could be a result of the decrease in the attention span of this generation. - Production Quality
When the likes of ID Cabasa, Pheelz, Young John, and P.Priime make up your production arsenal, one could only imagine the production justice and weight this album project carries. The quality of this album project is top-notch. You just have to listen for yourself to understand that it’s beyond the hype. - Songs with Visuals
Visuals have been released for two songs on the album.
“Greenlight” and “Eru”
10. Favorite songs on the Album
Personally, I enjoy listening to the entire album, but 5 songs stand out for me. However, I will only mention my favorite 3 songs.
• Infinity ft. Omah lay
• Triumphant ft. Bella Shmruda
• Plenty ft. Fireboy DML
As I come to close this piece, I hope you get a copy of the album, listen and share your thoughts about it in the comment session.
