Blessed (Flavour N'abania album)
| Blessed | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Flavour N'abania | ||||||||||
| Released | October 18, 2012 | |||||||||
| Genre | Igbo highlife | |||||||||
| Length | 60:53 | |||||||||
| Label | 2nite Entertainment | |||||||||
| Producer |
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| Flavour N'abania chronology | ||||||||||
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Blessed is the third studio album by Nigerian singer Flavour N'abania, released by 2nite Entertainment on October 18, 2012. It features guest appearances from Wizboyy and Fally Ipupa. The album's production was handled by Masterkraft, Wizzboy, Selebobo, MJay, Del B, J Stunt, and Dekumzy.[1] Masterkraft, the most prominent producer from the bunch, produced the album's lead single "Kwarikwa (Remix)" which received numerous radio airplay on The Beat 99.9 FM and Cool FM.
In addition to the lead single, the album was supported by four other singles: "Baby Oku", "Shake", "Chinny Baby" and "Ada Ada".[2] To celebrate the release of Blessed, Flavour launched 2nite Club in his hometown of Enugu State. He invited Tiwa Savage, Iyanya, Kcee and Bracket to partake in 2nite's grand opening.
Singles
On July 31, 2012, Flavour released the first single "Kwarikwa Remix" featuring Fally Ipupa. The music video for the single was shot and directed in the United States by Godfather Production. Fally Ipupa's scenes were shot in a studio, while the rest of the video was shot at residential locations. Masterkraft also made a cameo appearance in the video.[3]
On October 5, 2012, Flavour and 2Nite Entertainment released "Baby Oku" as the album's second single. The music video for the single was shot and directed by Antwan Smith in Miami, Florida. At the beginning of the video, several sky scrapers were shown and the caption "Somewhere Off the Coast of Miami" was also shown on the screen.
On December 24, 2012, Flavour released the third single titled "Shake". The song was produced by Del B, and the music video was shot in South Africa by Godfather Production.[4][5][6] On February 27, 2013, Flavour released the album's fourth single titled "Chinny Baby". The music video for the song was shot and directed by Trademark Pictures in Cape Town, South Africa.
"Ada Ada" was released as the fifth single from the album on June 30, 2013. It was released simultaneously with its music video.[7] The song celebrates traditional weddings across the African continent. Flavour describes it as a song made to showcase the beauty of Africa, particularly African women. John Okafor, popularly known as Mr. Ibu, and Nwachukwu Uti, the winner of Big Brother Africa 5, made cameo appearances in the video.[8] "Ada Ada" peaked at number 14 on Afribiz's Top 100 Music Chart.[9] The music video for "Ada Ada" won Video of the Year, Best High Life Video, Best Indigenous Concept and Best Use of Costumes at the 2013 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).[10]
Critical reception
Upon its release, the album was met with positive reviews from music critics. Ogagus of Tooxlcusive gave the album a 3.5 out of 5, adding: "Is the prince is highlife blessed? Undoubtedly he is and takes the bulls by the horn by diving deeper into the ocean of highlife with ‘Blessed’, although many argue that it is tiresome, beer palour-ish and too eastern while laying your complaints do not forget that he is a highlife musician. Despite the album’s weak points due to laziness on the artiste’s part; ‘Blessed’ is still the best highlife album you will find in stores in recent times." [2]
Tayo Ayomide of Nigerian Entertainment Today gave the album a 3 out of 5, stating: "Sometimes Flavour’s album sounds a tad bit repetitive. While he shows dexterity on Blessed some of his producers don’t -which gives the LP a slight been here-heard that feeling. This however doesn’t stop you from enjoying the album as Flavour has enough tricks to hold you down. While there are a lot of one dimensional acts in the game now, Flavour’s mastery of many genres has allowed him produce an LP worth listening to. And that, is what makes him blessed.".[1]
Accolades
Blessed was nominated for Album of the Year and Best R&B/Pop Album at The Headies 2013.[11] Blessed was also nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.[12]
| Year | Awards ceremony | Award description(s) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2013 | The Headies | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| Best R&B/Pop Album | Nominated |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Baby Oku" | Dekumzy | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Ikwokrikwo" | 3:42 | |
| 3. | "Chinny Baby" | Masterkraft | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Skit by Waga G" | 0:11 | |
| 5. | "Shake" | Del B | 3:56 |
| 6. | "To Be A Man" | 4:52 | |
| 7. | "Ada Ada" | Selebobo | 3:53 |
| 8. | "Destiny" | 4:00 | |
| 9. | "Black is Beautiful" | 3:40 | |
| 10. | "Skit By Waga G,Oloye& Flavour" | 1:37 | |
| 11. | "Ifem N'eli" | 3:27 | |
| 12. | "Sweet Tomatoes" | 3:29 | |
| 13. | "I Don't Care" (featuring Wizboy) | Wizboy | 3:26 |
| 14. | "Chewe Kwem" | 3:51 | |
| 15. | "Carolina" | 3:36 | |
| 16. | "Baby Oku (Dance)" | J Stunt | 3:43 |
| 17. | "Kwarikwa" (featuring Fally Ipupa) | Masterkraft | 3:42 |
| 18. | "Beverly" | 1:42 |
Release history
| Country/Digital platform | Date | Version | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
October 18, 2012 | Standard | 2nite Entertainment |
References
- 1 2 Boye, Don. "ALBUM REVIEW: FLAVOUR – BLESSED "IS THE PRINCE TRULY BLESSED?". TooXclusive. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- 1 2 Tayo, Ayomide. "Blessed: Flavour is a man of many styles [Album Review]". The Net Ng. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ↑ "ALBUM REVIEW: FLAVOUR – BLESSED "IS THE PRINCE TRULY BLESSED?". http://tooxclusive.com/. TOOXCLUSIVE. October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2013. External link in
|work=(help) - ↑ "New Video: Flavour – Shake". Jaguda. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ↑ "VIDEO: Flavour – Shake". NotJustOk. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ↑ "Flavour – Shake". tooclusive. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ↑ "Flavour – Ada Ada [Official Video]". Afrobeat360. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ↑ "Exclusive Video: Flavour – Ada Ada Behind The Scenes". africanmuzikmag. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ↑ "Afribiz Charts - Top 100". Afribiz. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ↑ "NIGERIA MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS (NMVA 2013) WINNERS LIST". Tooxclusive. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "The Headies 2013 - View Nominees List". Notjustok. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ↑ Abimboye, Micheal (31 May 2014). "Pop duo, Skuki, reject Nigerian Entertainment Awards nomination". Premium Times. Retrieved 1 June 2014.