Producer Rexxie, who rose to fame as a result of street-pop—most notably the Zanku wave—is renowned for his natural propensity for experimenting with sounds and beats, looping them into melodies and producing spirals of upbeat music.
The now-famous producer-artist has a long record of ground-breaking songs under his belt, including Zlatan’s Leg Work and Chinko Ekun’s Able God. He has also made significant contributions to Grammy Award-winning productions and established himself as one of Nigeria’s street-pop musical gurus.
The artist is anything but static as he has continued to develop over the years since making his debut in the music industry as both a producer and producer-artist; this is due to his well-known mega single, KPK (Ko Po Ke), on which he collaborated with Mohbad. The song which has a pop style that is reminiscent of South Africa’s amapiano, became one of the most popular anthems of the December 2020 season and served as the basis for his debut album, A True Champion.
His sophomore album, Big Time, which he recently released on Friday, March 10, was his latest release. His debut album already has established him as a virtuoso beat-maker who is skilled with the dynamics of creativity with instruments.
With artists like Lojay, Minz, Runtown, Azanti, Naira Marley, Zinoleesky, Backroad Gee, Busiswa, and even the legendary Wizkid among others, his album is a defining street-pop project that carries the vibrant energy of pop while drawing inspiration from other genres like R&B, grime, and amapiano—a genre where his creativity shines.
While admiring Rexxie’s album’s beauty, intricate craftsmanship, and diverse soundscapes, there are many unanswered questions about it.
These are 5 things about Rexxie’s Big Time that we don’t like:
What in the DJ Spinall is the opening track?
We’re not contending Asiko (Big Time) isn’t a lovely track or disparaging DJ Spinall’s top boy enthusiasm in his tracks; rather, we’re arguing that the entire “noise” Rexxie added as jara to the music gives DJ Spinall energy.
Lojay’s crooning on his time, which perfectly captures the translation of the song’s title, demonstrates his uniqueness and ability to do more than just sing about love and carnality. He is, after all, a melodic performer in both inspirational music and other genres.
While being corralled by the DJ Spinall-influenced music, we shouldn’t ignore the hints of what I can only describe as an Asake force, particularly from the usage of violins in his song Nzaza.
It’s giving cliché
Rexxie’s album exudes a very intense energy with greater emphasis devoted to the whooping beat underneath the complete vocals used by the featured performers. With practically every producer expanding into producing alongside singing, it reeks of desperation to desire hits and nothing more.
Contrary to the expectation implied by the album’s title, Big Time, and the assumption that the album will convey the idea of living in the moment, the tunes on the album are rather potential club hits and a creative use of the South African amapiano.
Yet, we shouldn’t entirely condemn the album for its cliches because most of the songs are exceptionally beautiful. For instance, it would be a pity if Minz and Runtown didn’t get to collaborate more often because bodied sync in Slow Whine is grandiose.
Discuss how Ajebo Hustlers’ Call My Phone brings their Port Harcourt smear—their distinctive lyrical style and how jiggy they stay on a song—into this conversation. Let’s not forget also to give credit to Knowledge, the rapper in Ajebo Hustlers musical duo, whose style of rapping is, in my opinion, distinct.
One sultry song isn’t enough.
We were referring to Fallacy as the lone R&B tune on the album when we said that Big Time is a blend of afropop, R&B, and amapiano. On this album, Rexxie featured Teni and Sarkodie, and in all honesty, this is the one outstanding tune that stands out and exhibits the zeal that Teni’s vocals convey into Sarkodie’s rap flow. It’s the only track with a unique viewpoint, and that alone makes the track fantastic.
In light of how flawless Fallacy is, how well Rexxie and Louddaaa produced the song, and in recognition of Teni and Sarkodie’s contributions, perhaps one or two more love songs would have been such a sight to behold.
Amapiano. Amapiano. More amapiano
Big Time is unquestionably a thrilling album because it keeps your exuberant energy from beginning to end, never falters, and sways you from one lively track to another. You are ousted from Asiko under the influence of amapiano and brought to a screeching halt by the Naira Marley, Skiibii, and Wizkid remix of Abracadabra.
The author is unsure, nevertheless, whether it puts Rexxie in the position of someone who is trying to utilize his projects to establish himself as a producer who knows how to show versatility.
We don’t know Rexxie’s creative process when creating his project, but one may speculate that given the successes he has had in the music industry with the amapiano sound, the producer may have hoped to accomplish a similar result with this trick on his album.
Although not every song uses this South African sound, roughly half of the 12-track songs include aspects of amapiano, such as the limpid beat and log drums, in one way or another.
Big Time is a chip off the old block; A True Champion
We all assumed that a new project would have a fresh perspective and electrifying sound; while Big Time succeeds in doing so to a small extent, the obvious resemblance to A True Champion is as obvious as the nose.
Did you notice how Rexxie’s sophomore album once more includes a few A True Champion artists? Artists like Zlatan, Teni, Sarkodie, Naira Marley, and Zinoleesky, with just the distinction of various pairings for some of these artists.
Was Rexxie under the impression that we wouldn’t notice a slight pattern in the featured artists he used and the vigor his sophomore album exudes? We can see how, not much different from A True Champion, he sings about love with just one song, uses South African musicians, and then features a different A-list artist on Big Time while putting an emphasis on amapiano and log drums and finding meaning in his smash hits.
It is clear that Rexxie’s primary style of music is dance music. His reliance on amapiano is one of his most effective strategies for guaranteeing listeners’ delight, and his collaborations of guest artists, despite appearing to be random, gives his music the most creative vigor.
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