By Sam George Mac
“Back in the day, I used to have like a hundred people in the studio. But these days, I like to record with less people.”
These were some of his words to Audiomack prior to the release of Timeless. This statement configures the contraction in Davido’s circle. One of two things is probably responsible — a woman with a say or a functioning management.
In the space of the last three months closing 2022, the Adelekes experienced the most of climatic events in quick succession — including a political win in their hometown, an indelible tragedy and the biggest gig of a musical career at the biggest football event in the world.
Davido’s loud silence grew an inextinguishable longing in the heart of the fans. The wait that proved lengthy was rewarded with a complementary musical piece in an epic trilogy — A Good Time for the discovery of Chioma, A Better Time for the birth of Ifeanyi and Timeless for what can no longer be measured or bound by time.
“There are songs that I dropped in 2011 that still bring the same feelings to the fans when I perform them. Whether I dropped it 10 years ago or yesterday, I want it to give you the same feeling,” he explained to Audiomack.
Davido’s return is the most strategic in the history of Afrobeats. The album roll-out impressed with thoughts inclined towards the Grammys. With it came the partnership with Spotify and a very controversial personal playlist of 40 Timeless Afrobeats Songs.
Davido’s playlist bears three songs from Wizkid and none from Burna Boy. And with the newfound alliance between Wizkid and Davido, a response is imminent from Burna Boy, either for the fun of it, for the business side of music, for the culture or even for the pain of disregard. It may be a deja vu then — a reiteration of Fem and Way Too Big.
As expressed through the art cover of the album, Davido lives a transition from his previous releases into a novelty whose relevance partially depends on results. It’s a future widely awaited! Equanimity, aesthetics and innocence all characterize this inferred inter-planetary infinity.
The sky with the orbit is big enough for exploration and discovery. The elephants are a testimony to his weight in the industry. The trees attract expectations of fruitfulness in his world while the hourglass appeals to the patience of the listeners to wait till this future to relive this ecstasy again as a flashback.
The path is narrow and sandy for the listeners, but if they but dare, they will have an easy transition through the head of Davido. This journey is timeless!
The plan — with a wave at the era of Peruzzi and Mayorkun under DMW, Timeless is strategically used to introduce Morravey and Logos Olori as the second chapter of the self owned label.
Timeless was released to complement A Good Time and A Better Time — hence the trilogy on time. Interestingly, Timeless was psychologically used to express time for the last time.
Timeless is also the point where Davido realized that collaborations with famous American artistes don’t work for him. He had enough on the first two pieces of the trilogy.
Timeless, the fourth studio album in his discography, leans towards the grandiose of the urban society. Everything moves fast. The duration of the songs, the tempo of most of it, as well as the hedonistic lyrics.
Davido leaves everything in his personality on the album — pacy songs like Bop, Champion Sound, Feel, Unavailable and Away preach stress-free life and hedonism in full. He is conscious of his role model status on LCND and Godfather with subtle touches on his griefs on Over Dem and LCND. Precision simply interpolates Burna Boy’s Chase feat. DJ Jimmy Jatt, then samples CDQ’s Nowo E Soke feat. Wizkid.
“I travelled, I am married. A lot of different things, but we are ready to get back on the road,” Davido revealed to KieKie. He further wades through love on the album. He employs Asake and Skepta to assist on the topic at some point.
Davido has never hidden his love for the game of football. The visuals of La La, off A Better Time, portrays it. His visits to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford attest it. His performance at the 2022 World Cup too. While his knowledge of football is explored with references to Kante, Messi and Lukaku, the singer’s deployment of black artistes on Timeless is an unconscious promotion of Pan Africanism.
The Grammy conversation intensifies with Angelique Kidjo on the lineup. The unveiling of Logos Olori and Morravey with the album is commendable. It won them more attention than an official unveiling would have. Logos Olori, on just a track, reiterates Magixx, Fireboy and Wizkid simultaneously. For Morravey, it’s the strength in her vocals — what caught Davido’s attention in the Instagram reel where he discovered her, as revealed on Beat FM, Lagos.
The shock — Stand Strong was left out. Pheelz whom Davido claimed produced most songs on his album is missing on Timeless. The emotions Davido announced he wanted to appeal to in March 2022 is nowhere to be found on Timeless. This only means one thing — Timeless was not the album planned last March.
Notwithstanding, Timeless is the most unique in the trilogy. It bode farewell to the Hip-Hop-based Davido on the first two set. Note that Davido explored rap music more than ever, on the first two.
Timeless stands the chance to be the most successful in the trilogy basically because the failures of featuring big names on the first two were not repeated on the last piece of the trilogy. Hence, the sound is more Afrobeats than the mixture of it with Hip Hop and RnB heard on A Good Time and A Better Time.
A Good Time was more serene with slow masterpieces like Blow My Mind, If, Fall, Assurance and Intro. A Better Time clambered with Amapiano exploration. However, considering how Timeless is centric on dance-inducing songs, the arrangement of the three albums in the trilogy takes the sense of ascending a ladder — from the low to the high.
Career wise, this may be the climax of Davido’s existence. The timelessness of the project needs time to make a complete meaning — aside the memorable anticipation it brought — whether it is fully timeless or not will be determined by the achievements it is able to record for the philanthropic singer.
This is because when Davido talked to Audiomack about what he meant by “timeless”, the sense is that the album will awaken the same feelings in any future as it originally did the time it was released. And of course, playing this in future, you’ll remember the fever, anxiety, stampede and noise that greeted Davido’s return after months of silence and disconnection from the fans.
Ultimately, Timeless is an artistic way to complete an epic, and Chioma is the only survival in the episodic plot right from Adekunle-Gold-written 1 Milli till Asake-assisted No Competition.
Ratings: 8/10
