2Face’s influence on Nigeria’s music industry today is unquestioned, but you wouldn’t guess that from the scant attention his releases get. All his antics to get back to his “African Queen” glory days—a record label, a politically conscious movement and a handful of singles—have all failed to inspire a 2Baba comeback. But he seems unbothered by his music’s absence from the spotlight. Perhaps comforted by thoughts of the increasingly fractured music landscape where online artists seems to flourish with little or no influence from the mainstream,  2Face has released a new single, “Amplifier” confident that his core fans will find it—at the time of publishing this article, he hadn’t publicized on any of his social media pages.

“Amplifier” is hardly 2Face’s most laid back single. Hard hitting synth piano harmonies and bouncy drum riffs are rife in the production. But the move to abandon the passionate R&B genre for a more dance inclined sound has worked for him before on songs like “Implication” where he managed to pass across his admonitory message while still delivering melodies to dance to. “Amplifier” is saddled with a similar task.

The easiest subject for dance numbers is probably romance but 2Face shows off his song writing skill by opting for a more intricate theme of coaching. He encourages listeners to work hard if they want to get the rich on the EDM single through lines like, “Every Money Want Banana/ That’s Why You Have To Work Harder”. Sprinkling classic 2Face lines like “Shine Your Eyes Well Well”, a couple adlibs and lousier subjects  of dance, it’s quite clear that 2Face just enjoys making music. And he confirms that when he sings, “See Me As I Dey Here So, I Just Come To Feel Highre”.

Stream 2Face’s new single, “Amplifier” below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/2face_idibia

You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him @debola_abimbolu

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