Mavin have a knack for unveiling new talents with just as much flair and excitement as a long-anticipated album from our favourite artist. After the sensation that was Rema, Mavin Records have successfully continued their strategy of introductory EPs, bringing Crayon into the fray with ‘Cray Cray’ and Ayra Starr this year with her self-titled. The latest name in the register is Magixx a 23-year-old Pop star vying for national acclaim.

Making his way onto the main stage with a five-track solo course, Magixx has been flexing these vocal cords from his church halls, as early as the age of ten years old. His official debut single, “Mirror” arrived in 2018, and since, Magixx has appeared on a series of skippable collaborations. This debut EP is certainly Magixx’s biggest look so far, and with the heightened visibility his Mavin ink has gotten him, Magixx has hit his mark.

 

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‘Magixx’ is a bright Afropop project, with a melange of moods and matters that displays the artists’ versatility right off the bat. As lyrically smooth on a love song as he is inspirational, encouraging listeners to “Motivate Yourself”, over the EPs fourteen minutes, Magixx delivers a string of potential hits that have already conquered the airwaves.

Released last Friday, ‘Magixx’ took the industry by surprise, and the NATIVE team too. An unexpected drop, that exceeded expectations, here are our First Impressions of Mavin Records’ latest debutant.

Biggest hit potential 

Wonu: The biggest potential hit for me would be “Gratitude” and I say this track because it does sound like a hit. These days you can’t really tell what a hit song is going to be but from what I can hear, this seems to be an actual hit song. Close second to this will be “Love Don’t Cost A Dime”. The song sounds very marketable so it might really just be that hit song.

Shina: Magixx has a very familiar voice so it’ll be easy to market anything from this EP. My first pick for a big hit would be the second track, “Like A Movie” with very catchy bridges and hooks, It has the potential to be a big song. I see people making tiktoks to this. Also, another worthy mention is the first track on the EP, “Love Don’t Cost A Dime”.

Best verse

Nwanneamaka: I enjoyed listening to the project but lyrics-wise, no verses stood out to me. However, on the EP’s intro “Love Don’t Cost A Dime”, the first verse immediately grabbed my attention with notable lyrics like “girl she give me butterflies in my belly.”  

Ada: One of my favorite tracks on the album is “Love Don’t Cost A Dime” and in the chorus, there is a line where he says “She no want the gucci bag or the fendi, girl gimme butterflies in my belly,” that is such a catch verse in the song that the more you listen to it you start singing along.

Biggest skip 

Ada: I’d have to say “Motivate Myself” not because it sounds bad but because it has such a somber and slow rhythm to it that you tend to zone out from the music and the majority of the lyrics are repeated so much. Although the song does send a good message which i think i everyone should hear 

Wale: “Love Don’t Cost A Dime”; I would typically rinse songs like these because it’s just soft and tender and led by a simple instrumental but I don’t vibe to it right now. The cadences he uses don’t appeal to me yet but I see what the attempt was about, it’s just not my thing right now. 

Overall first impressions 

Nwanneamaka: I didn’t have any expectations going into listening to the project but considering he is a Mavins signee, I had a good feeling about it. I enjoyed listening to the project as a whole, it was an interesting combination of softer tracks like “Love Don’t Cost A Dime” and more upbeat numbers like “Pati”. The artist made good first impressions and I’d definitely give the project another listen. 

Wonu: Well for me, it was a really good project. Listening to this, I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to hear but I knew I wanted to hear something different. It didn’t really meet my expectations but It was a very interesting way to activate another Mavin although we’ve seen this pattern a couple of times. I’m excited to see where he goes from here because he’s a very talented vocalist. 

Future projections for the new signee

Wale: Man, I think he’ll be really big. “Motivate Yourself” sounds really great and it’s hard to come out that advanced sonically, shouts to the Mavin Academy for all they do. Magixx has a grasp of almost everything a modern pop star needs. Voice, style, and just sheer star power. I would really love to see him make more songs like “Like A Movie.” It seems like there’s depth to him too, so it should be nice watching his growth and everything he goes on to do. 

Woju: I thoroughly enjoyed this listen and I wait with bated breath for Magixx’s releases in the future.  In the 5 short songs, Magixx has proven his range in terms of lyrical content — where he uses a range of similes and covers a variety of topics — as well as tempo and mood. As does every Mavin artist, Magixx has come out with a self-titled debut EP, and it yields great promise for the Pop singer’s future.

Stream ‘Magixx’ below.

Featured image credits/Magixx

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