Many of us got first properly acquainted with rapper Chyn thanks to his guest verse on Falz’s “Chardonnay Music” and its somewhat controversial lyrics. Since then he’s released a slew of middling singles that kept him bubbling under but never really broke the surface into mainstream success. Though that is really by no fault of his own, the kind of classic rap that he is known for, replete with very western metaphors and punchline doesn’t really gain traction anymore in age of the local rapper and metaphors that reference Bariga and Surulere.  As his sound has evolved, Chyn has subtly changed his approach to Naija rap to reflect his understanding of the scene. His new song, “Omo Kekere” suggests he might have found that sweet spot.

“Omo Kekere” roughly translated from Yoruba to mean small child, opens with a sample of what we surmise is a Wolof song. The tribal sample slows to a sparse hip-hop beat, with an undercurrent of a four second riff taken from the much larger sample and a yowl interspersed through the song. Chyn’s very western musings about his journey in the Nigerian music industry work surprisingly well with this instrumental, even the yowl interjecting his somewhat derivative punchlines. The song’s chorus, sung in Yoruba is the real clincher, an afrobeat ditty that will worm its way into your subconscious and stay there. It’s a more than decent single, radio friendly, and scalable both here and abroad. “Omo Kekere” could have done without all the casual sexism in the first verse, but it has never really harmed any of the other big names, we doubt it will barely make a blip here.

Give Chyn the applause, because if this is played right, he’s sitting on a mainstream hit.

Listen to “Omo Kekere” here.

Edwin eats his rice and cabbages. Tweet at him@edgothboy

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