After unceremoniously parting ways with former label Dapper Music in 2024, Seyi Vibez's next move was always going to either signal an upward momentum or put question marks on his career choices.
He answers, the question in his first release of 2025 'Children of Africa' EP which ordinarily should be a surprise drop given the lack of prior notice. However, for many fans, the EP is another typical move from an artist whose policy since breaking into the mainstream in 2022 is to dominate the market with successive projects.
The risk of switching labels hasn't always proven to to be a good decision for several artists in Nigerian music, however, for stars like Seyi Vibez whose clear talent and street credibility set them apart, it is more or less a rite of passage irrespective of how undesirable they might be.
Having made a decisive career move, Seyi Vibez needed a release that calls on all those whose patronage spurred to him stardom. He needed to connect to the street and remind them that he remains the star whose music captures their pulse.
He achieves this with an EP that carries his familiar quality and gives an insight into his desire to play a part in whatever may become the next dominant mainstream sound.
A musician whose artistry is grounded in the musicality of rich Indigenous Yoruba music and shaped by inner-city realities, Seyi Vibez leans into familiar territory with songs that communicate ambition, celebrate success, and share the desire to get with the times.
The Apala cadence that shapes his melodies shines on 'Mario Kart' where he boasts about his fancy jewelry, fast cars, and sold-out shows.
The song is everything listeners have come to know of his music - the showing off, the acknowledgment of divine favour, the references, the swaggering flow, and female/children backup vocals.
He flaunts his superstar reach by tapping American Trap star NLE Choppa who lays a suitable verse on the hip hop fusing 'Macho' where Seyi Vibez thumps his chest while sing-rapping about his determination to keep getting one over his detractors.
The biggest show of ambition is however in the uptempo record 'Shaolin' where he breathlessly goes on about what his success and street credibility.
The mindset that informs 'Shaolin' can be traced to a line in 'Mario Cart' where Seyi Vibez said "Afrobeats to di pangolo, whatever it's ki e mi sa lo wo" which essentially translates to "whatever maybe the popping Afrobeats sound, I just want to make money".
Staying relevant requires an artist to keep up with the mainstream trend and interpret it uniquely. Seyi Vibez shares this desire on 'Shaolin' which carries the uptempo mara street music that shaped Rema's album 'HEIS'.
For Seyi Vibez, 'Shaolin' is a desire to get with what may be a sonic evolution, especially at its nascent stage, and play his part in the industry's search for a successor to the dominant Amapiano fusion. This is the same mindset that informed his breakout single 'Chance' which mirrored Asake's hit 'Orgnaise' from his 2022 era-defining run.
Seyi Vibez might not be at the steering wheel of an Afrobeats sonic evolution but you can bet that he will hop on the bus and call on the street to join him in their numbers because more than any other star, he captures their pulse.
Ratings: /10
• 0-1.9: Flop
• 2.0-3.9: Near fall
• 4.0-5.9: Average
• 6.0-7.9: Victory
• 8.0-10: Champion
Pulse Rating: /10
Album Sequencing: 1.5/2
Songwriting, Themes and Delivery: 1.4/2
Production: 1.6/2
Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.5/2
Execution: 1.5/2
Total: 7.5