THE BROTHER'S KEEPER: THE NEW MANDATE OF OUR DEAREST LOVER BOY

Following up a great project with another is a task that is most greeted with an eye of doubt at first. Consumers don't have eternity to dissect sleeper hits. they are very quick to blow your trumpet or throe dirt on your newness of sound. In the case of Chike's thirty month wait to give his debut project a run for its money, the result is a safe approach that can be easily regarded as nice curation. Maybe some songs were weak compared to the more deliberate Boo of the Booless (2020), what we can safely say without conflict is that he is ready to outgrow the notion that the gender demography is strictly for lovy-dovy females, hence gradually extending its tentacle to the hard to impress and rarely admitting males. That is not an affront to guys who enjoy his sound. It is just a simple hard to deny grapevine that ladies give more credence to his sound than the hard guy nuance of his fellowmen.

Out to put that assumption to rest, the album starts taking the Amapiano direction. on the moon details his fame and the swift attainment of things he could not three years ago. with exposure to the height of music success any debut project can bring you with the right amount of relevant involvement as a feature on big players project, his present view of life is way better than before. you can understand why he feels good about it.

The next tune Tell am takes us back to the Igboesque RNb quirk he is known for. it is the perfect number for your wedding ceremony, such imprint he has owned to massively keep a strong grip on the list of wedding reception top three goto artistes - may be only below Flavour and Timi Dakolo. That sting of love reverbrates on ''Spell'' but taking a slower tempo.

He borrows the Pan-Africanistic gusto of Yemi Alade and his big Eastern brother Flavour to extol the beauty of his love interest. South Africa singer Azana greased the song with that Angelique Kidjoe quirk. Truly, it gives the song that missing uniqueness. we all thought "Hard to Find'' would be the second single off the album after the commercial success of Nwokeoma. He had other idea which we cant fault. it is an unmistaken sound that specifically suits your love in the air gathering that we have to prepare to hear at every Saturday's marriage fanfare.

The frailty of this album is slightly felt on this reggae-centric ''Winner''. If there was a designated poll that influences the tracklist of an album, i am almost as sure that chike is from the east that over 55% will vote for its exclusion. not to absolutely discredit. Whatever he was trying to achieve using an organised chaos chorus as the intro on "Bad'' wasnt catchy to me but i got the vibe even before mid point. and although the organised chaotic response to Chike's call made a lot of sense, it is hard to call this song one of the best on this album.

''Zamo'' corrected the mishaps of the preceding track as he went back to his origin. unquestionable trust of a lover is interrogated in the sweetest way any voice should belt out such truth seeking question. one would have hoped for more on this track but i guess least is better than nothing.

There is a great feel of Omah Lay on ''Pour Me A Drink'' and it is way beyond the title that characterises the Port-Harcourt singer. It is more about the raging sonority that leaves you bumping to a man's predicament. with the nicest use of paradox, he explains the pointlessness dwelling too much on the emotional pain he has endured for long. ''one thing about the truth is that everybody is liar'', corresponds with his mental state while writing this song.

Of course we know his voice is nothing about amazing. but the sparkler on ''Ýou Deserve'' is Ycee, unarguably. For a love ballad that is simple to recite, he brought the gritty bad boy panache. In his element, he reverted back to his magic on ''Enough". It is a self-finding song that nullifies whatever bashing this album will receive for not resonating the same type of first listen admiration of his first project. Without the fuss he tried to place on other songs, the effortlessness of his voice to move the downtrodden is emboldened. the song is an absorber of guilt for not showing what is impossible to a utopian lover/friend and the declaration of self-love over unrealistic expectation.

moving on requires your feet to dance if you can. with the second deployment of reggae/dancehall beat to bed the lyrics, Chike touch on his sheer confidence to remain alive even if his lover declare her intention to leave."'good things presented its message even before chike belted out the first word. all about patience, contentment and the bliss that visits true believers in hardwork. exquisite mix of Yoruba, Igbo and pidgin English is the spice that gives the song a perfect relatability of how hypocrisy and fake life shoulded be dreaded.

Betrayal as a vice takes centre stage on ''God Only Knows", while nothing less nothing more is rife with sorrow that comes from a place of losing a loved one with the scintillating help from an orchestra. Fond memories are vivid as well as the pain of not seeing that person anymore to recreate new memories.

The album ends on a high with an innocent plea of how he hopes to have enough to keep to himself when music and other money-spinning endeavours no longer provide him the heightened profit he is enjoying at the moment.

Scintillating work was done by the team that A&R the album as Chike re-enlisted Ogaga Sakpaide and producers – DeeYasso, Tee-Y Mix, Killertunes, Echo the Guru, Louddaaa, Sagzy Afroshii, Lord Sky, and Masterkraft. Pockets of weakness here and there, but true to the current switch from pop to a more expansive genre collection, The Brother's Keeper is a reflective declaration of what his future sound is headed. as much as the monstrous success of BOTB is still fresh as it helped us cope with the start of covid-19 sponsored new normal, we also deserve nicer assemblage of songs to egg us on our consumption of his discography.

I'll rate this album 6.5 outta 10.