Every artist has a trademark sound. Celine Dion and Adele have sold millions of records on the ripeness of their emotion, Wizkid has continued to report the musings of an unnamed “she” and Flavour has never strayed too far from his trademark neo-highlife.

Sonic specificity is a lovely thing. It certainly helps to build a strong fanbase. The key however, is to create variations within that specificity. On that front, BNXN is failing and falling… Fast.

“Bad Since ’97”  was billed to be Buju’s redemption. Heavily marketed and promoted as a game changer, the EP does anything but. The beats are stronger and the budget is bigger, but the flows are the exact same. 

Songs like “Bad Since ’97” and “Bad Man Wicked” are carried almost exclusively by the  pulsating beats they rest on. “Many Man” is insipid in ways that is only surpassed by the Wande Coal assisted “Kenkele”. 

Olamide redeems “Modupe” with a dynamic verse but even that is not enough to warrant a second listen for the second.

No question, BNXN is an incredibly talented artist. Definitely one of the best of his generation. His lyrics are stellar but are typically undercut by the familiarity of his melodies. 

This EP will no doubt do well commercially. The numbers will be strong and there will be bragging rights for a time, but someone needs to smell coffee. BNXN’s bane is more and more apparent with each release.

As stated earlier, BNXN is an artist of immense talent, but even he must switch gears. Too much of one thing is never good. BNXN’s flow and the melody line is no exception.