‘The Machine Is Coming’: OdumoduBlvck expresses his readiness to dominate [Review]
Whatever Nigerian mainstream pop music is today, it owes in no small part to hip hop, which laid the sonic structure, approach, and even dressing.
So it was only fair that amidst Afrobeats’ global surge, a rapper stood up to be counted.
It is important that when Nigerian music is at an all-time commercial high, a rapper stands tall next to the pop stars, just like other iconic rappers did in the 2000s and 2010s.
This rapper is OdumoduBlvck and the magnitude of the responsibility he shoulders isn’t lost on him.
Dominance in hip hop requires confidence, whether aggressively or calmly.
Dominance calls for breathless, successful releases that leave peers, oppositions, and fans in no doubt of who runs the scene.
In Nigeria, there’s an additional requirement of domestication which requires range and malleability to shape and fit into the soundscape.
OdumoduBlvck shows this ability to domesticate on his 2023 project ‘Eziokwu,’ which has since gone on to become one of the most successful rap projects of the Nigerian streaming era.
Since then, he has displayed an ambition to dominate. In the last 18 months, he made over 40 guest appearances, including on songs with Pop superstars Rema and Davido.
He released a joint album with his crew Anti World Gangsters in 2024, and barely three months later, he’s back with a new album (he calls it a mixtape, but this it’s an album) ‘The Machine Is Coming.’
After spending a better part of 2024 preparing listeners for the release of his next album ‘Industry Machine,’ OdumoduBlvck decided to release a surprise 16-track project to further drum home the message that ”The Machine is Coming.”
With a combination of his hyper-masculine rap flows, aggressive chest-thumping writing, colorful use of Nigerian lingo, and stunning melody-wielding abilities (he calls it Okporoko flows), he tells listeners that he’s the leading hip-hop protagonist in the country who is ready to dominate.
Across the album’s 41-minute playtime, OdumoduBlvck explores a wide spectrum of Nigerian pop sounds while using hip-hop as the anchor that gives the project its identity.
OdumoduBlvck has perfected his genre-fusing rap style through a blend of rage verses and catchy melody-filled choruses, and it’s through this effective cocktail that he delivers a compelling project.
He continues his penchant of name-dropping pop cultural figures on the opener ‘Legolas’ where he celebrates winning on his terms through rap verses that are perfectly paired with what might be his best hook yet.
Known for his use of explicit language, OdumoduBlvck blends his aggressive technique with the sultry melodies of singers Juno and Valentina Ross on the log drum-punctuated ‘Toy Girl,’
Uptempo Afrobeats is seeing a gradual resurgence, and OdumoduBlvck appeared to have caught the bug, thanks to his appearance on Rema‘s ‘War Machine.’
Party-starting jams ‘Early Morning’ and ‘Barrister Tofo’ featuring Lawyers turned rappers Fatboy E and Falz are nods the growing influence of the Mara sound, which is the latest strain of up-tempo street pop music.
Mixtapes (even if this isn’t one) have delivered hit songs for several rappers. This is the case for OdumoduBlvck, thanks to his hit collaboration ‘Pity This Boy’ featuring Victony, who is also known for his colourful use of Nigerian lingo.
The Machine Is Coming, and this album makes the wait worthwhile.
