Bella Shmurda's “Hypertension” LP is a Potential Album of the Year

When this album reaches the endpoint it becomes clear who should be included in the album of the year list and restates the fact that Bella Shmurda would be around for a minute.

By Emmanuel Daraloye

Bella Shmurda has many dreams. Top on the list has been his desire to continue making hits, serving as a tension to the Nigerian music industry. As a play on the word, he released his debut album Hypertension last week. A follow-up to previously released High Tension and High Tension 2.0 extended plays.

A seamless interface between Fuji and Afrobeats, Bella Shmurda got introduced to the Nigerian music industry when his Olamide-assisted “Vision 2020,” the track went viral in 2019. In the ID Cabasa-produced track, Bella Shmurda detailed his struggle, his fellow youth battle, and the government's lackadaisical attitude to their plight. It was a relatable tune. Ever since then, Shmurda has kept his name in conversation via infrequent song releases, collaborations, and rare media appearances.

In the build-up to the release of this new album, the Lagos State University student has appeared on Rubbin Minds on Channels TV, on Korty EO's show on Youtube. The whole essence of this interview is to show the world how brilliant he is and also an avenue to show his vulnerability—which is unusual for an artists of his caliber.

Appearing on Dadaboy Ehiz's Apple

Music Africa Now radio seven days ago, he let out the inspiration behind the album title:

“Bella Shmurda is the tension. My sound is the tension, anything good is the tension so I just classify myself as a tension, as a problem to the industry. You can’t get me off-guard, you understand? And the album is off-guard”.

“I just feel like people feel like my vibe is hard to combine. It’s not something you can just wake up in the morning and just want to vibe to. It’s not just a vibe, it’s something you have to think about, something that goes a long way”.

On this album, Bella Shmurda breezes into different cultures and calls on the big shot for assistance: Simi, Omah Lay, BackRoad Gee, Victony, Not3s, L.A.X, Phyno, and Popcaan.

When Shmurda claimed to be the new Fela on the album starter “New Born Fela,” he was simply paying respect to the Afrobeat legend. It rife with aspiration. Not done, Bella vow to get more money, the one that would be full like Bourdillon: bourdillon as used in this context is a tribute to Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Via this song, Bella goes on a long drive, with the aid of a fantastic saxophone, he goes from asking a girl out, to talking about girl who uses sex toyforo his money chase. It can be confusing as Shmurda tends to muddle things up. 

“Ase” is a celebratory song. It's a hopeful track that gets the refrain of Ase as Bella Shmurda prays for money and success for his listeners.  Who doesn't like prayer? This is a typical Yoruba song.

The tempo “Contraband,” is a free-flowing dancehall song, self-praise song which sees Bella Shmurda urging people to desist from advising him. All he wants is just to live his life, free from unsolicited advisers.

In one of the unexpected collaborations on on this album, Shmurda linked up with Simi on the sex tinged “Loose It.” They complement one another, while Shmurda complained about the girl's sly ways, Simi replied and offer reason for this while reassuring him of her faithfulness to him. 

“Oh Oh Oh," and “Converse” are cut from the same cloth. They both have an element of R&B. Bella Shmurda lets down his guard as he tries to win her over. On the latter, rapper and Pent Hauze boss, Phyno comes through with a free-flowing Igbo rap verse. They seamlessly flow along.

Artiste like Brymo, Banky W and Humblesmith have all sang a song about the beauty of Lagos State. Bella Shmurda joined the train with “Lagos City" off this album, it celebrates the essence of the city although the hook is cheesy, and also it failed to elicit much expect many. ”Level Up” is one of the filler tracks on this album, you wonder what it adds to this project, a repetition or deliberate emphasis.

Omah Lay and Bella Shmurda might have just crafted one of the best duets of duets via “Philo.” When Bella said “You are high key, you dey play for my mind” he wasn't capping or just throwing around words, he was just stating how he feels with hisaboutetheart. On this track, they both reassure the girl of their commitment, financially and otherwise.

Nakupenda means I Love You in Swahili. Bella Shmurda called on BackRoad Gee, Not3s and L.A.X for the highest featured track “Nakupenda” on this project. All three artistes came up with their best, was it enough? I think the short time allocated to them would make this difficult to evaluate. The featured artiste all had the best part of this song, they relegated Bella Shmurda to the other side on this song.

One alluring feature of this album remains Bella Shmurda's constant frolicking with Dancehall. His ability to co-opt his fellow artiste and their desire to ride on the wave is also fascinating. For example, the Soweto crooner, Victony delivered an incredible verse on “No Other.”

Bella Shmurda celebrates his exploits on “Man of the year.”  It is rife with some personal and introspective takes on life, situations, prostitution. When they say Art mirrors this society, Bella Shmurda deliberately tows this line on this song. He becomes a change advocate for his people. He is not judgemental, rather he talks about the challenges people face in their life journey.

“Addicted” welcomes the listener to the lavi da loca lifestyle Bella Shmurda lives.

What does it feel to be Bella Shmurda? A walk through the album closer “So Cold,” would help. It's a lamentation type of track as Bella and Popcaan talk about life. On his part, Popcaan talks more about the government and the need for the people to show love to others.

At the end of the forty-three minutes of spin, it becomes clear while Bella took a minute before releasing this album. He has been tweaking his sounds, working on his pen game while looking for the right feature for the track. All these were reflected on Hypertension. When this album reaches the endpoint it becomes clear who should be included in the album of the year list and restates the fact that Bella Shmurda would be around for a minute.

4/5

Emmanuel Daraloye is Africa’s Most Prolific Music Critic. He has over 450 album reviews in his archive.