Music in its purest form is an instrument of change geared toward giving pleasure, educating the public and/or healing souls. If for any reason we as Africans should be proud of our current crop of musical contents, FALZ’s ‘Moral Instructions’ album is a perfect example of musical content worth praises in Africa.
The album which seeks to reflect the true nature of situations in Nigeria and Africa as a whole has one key focus: “Religious and Polítical Slavery”. This, based on the current crop of musical content in the African space can be described as unique. Therefore, the christening of the album (Moral Instructions) is a befitting one.
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Contents on this album can be likened to two of Ghana’s deepest rappers – M.anifest and Worlasi. The Afrocentric instrumentals used throughout the 25 minutes listening period of this album can mostly be seen in songs produced by Worlasi and M.anifest.
Surging on, the introductory song on the album ‘Johnny’ is a mid-tempo rap song detailing the abuse of power amongst police officers and other security personnel. It touches on bribery and corruption as well as reckless use of arms on innocent citizens. This song quickly fades into the ‘numero deux’ track on the album. “Follow Follow” which literally is a Nigerian slang for blind copying is the title of the next song. On this song, Falz uses wit and sarcasm to ridicule the situation of ‘SLAY QUEENS’ and ‘SLAY KINGS’ who will do just anything to fake a flashy life on social media for likes and comments while they actually have red account balances. He dwells on how the youth get pressured by what they see online especially from celebrities and how such youth do anything to be seen in same vein as those celebs.
Track number 3 which is actually my best song on the album goes by the title “Hypocrites”. The hook for the song which ends with “Everybody is a motherfucking hypocrite oo” actually ends up sending shockwaves down my spine. It’s shocking how one could be so witty and crafty with words that he entertains and educates you effortlessly. This song speaks about how hypocritical humans are. How we ridicule “Homosexuality” yet we fail to talk about “prostitution and polygamy”. How we are quick to condemn others while do worst things in our closets. This song is by far the best song on the album to me. Demmie Vee did a brilliant job with the vocals on this song. Thumbs up to him.
The fourth song and midway point of the album comes with a lot of talking about almost everything. So, Falz titles this one ‘Talk’. While this song talks more about the misbehaviour of politicians as far as corruption is concerned, it also talks about how the poor people are maltreated by the rich and how insensitive religious leaders are to the needs of their congregations. To me, this song was too diversified and it didn’t quite make the mark for me. Out of 10, I’ll rate it 6 or 5.5 as compared to 9 for the previous songs.
My second best song on the album comes at number 5. It’s titled “Amen”. With the caption, I’m sure you already have a fair idea of what the song seeks to preach. This song is my second best song partly because I’m tired of spiritual slavery here in Africa and partly because the song speaks directly to the conscience. “Amen” is a rigorous revelation of how indispensable fraudulent churches have become in Africa. Falz throws away fear and victimization as he tells a vivid story of how the church has milked the poor congregants to enrich the pastors. This song will definitely cause bitterness to some people as it touches on one of Africa’s biggest problems today.
Song number 6 goes by the title “Brother’s Keeper”. This also is a classic song which speaks directly to the conscience. “Me, I no be my brother’s keeper. I no dey send my brother. Cox we no get the same mother. Na only me come this world”. This is the chorus of this song and to me it is the best hook/chorus on the album with credits to Sess for the poignant vocals. The song seeks to address the issue of selfishness and greed which has engulfed the world today. Bars like “ I’m too selfish to be moved. Don’t you see I’m too big to put myself in his shoes?” and “Na me be your problem since. If you no know, check. I no give you light cox if to say I give you, you no go buy fuel” cement the hunger for riches and how much humans have become greedy.
“Paper” which is the second to last song on the album speaks about how people do everything and just anything to be rich without doing legitimate businesses. Falz focuses on robbery, ritualism, drug dealing, prostitution, Fraud and embezzlement. This is certainly a very good jam for the soul and mind. It’s one of my picks on the album.
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The very final song on the album ‘E no finish’ pays homage to the great Nigerian and African composer and music genius “Fela Kuti” as FALZ kept referring to issues raised by the legend in his past works. The song’s chorus “Baba Fela talk am but E no finish. When E go finish?” Goes to settle the relevance of all said by the legend even in today’s life. Here, Falz still passionately talks about some of the issues raised in previous songs such as political robbery, abuse and selfishness. This song to me sounds more like a summation of all the first seven songs. It is also a very strong jam though.
Falz finally walks out of the album with a reminder to us of how we should position ourselves for greatness. Though his focus was on the Nigerian populace, we can as well extend his words to the Ghanaian life and Africa as a whole.
Finally, I think this album deserves some accolades. It’s definitely worth the praise. I, however, think Falz could have brought on two or three different rappers on the album. There are few rappers in Africa who share the same thoughts as him. He should have brought them on board to broaden the scope of this album as it seems he was only limiting it to the Nigerian scope which I feel isn’t enough. On the scale of 1-10, I’ll give the album 8.5.
By; Gabla Godwin/ Tieghanaonline.com
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