Gaise Baba “LOGO” EP Review: Afrobeats gospel, rap and greater strides

It was the typical Friday evening in Lagos. The usual incredible traffic that almost triggered me to tweet about how much I wanted to relocate to another city forever. With the face mask which hung on both my ears consistently fighting against every molecule of air that tried to make it up my nostrils and the depressing sounds of blaring horns efficiently expressing the anger and frustration of their owners stuck in the true definition of a ‘hold up‘, a smile still formed in my heart.

The smile was birthed from the hope that above the odoriferous circumstances that the ever-busy Lagos city was subjecting me to, good music by Gaise Baba awaited me after it all. I had just left the office of a popular rapper and was headed for a listening party organized by Gaise for his extended play record (EP) which dropped that same day. So disregard my first eight words. There was nothing regular about that Friday. Nothing is regular about any day Gaise Baba decides to drop a project!

The venue was somewhere in Ikeja, the city’s capital, and my residence for over a decade. Yet, the entire atmosphere was peculiar. Present in the room, were almost all the popular names in the Nigerian urban Christian community, but that wasn’t what made the gathering peculiar. It was the feeling of family that it brought; the togetherness and oneness in faith and expression. It was how the room heated up with DJ Horphuray turning the wheels of steel, and how Gaise Baba – alongside the other acts on the project – performed each track off it with cheers and applause from the other creatives present.

1. Logo

My soul almost jumped out of my skin when the friend I was seated by screamed as this track began to play. It’s true that every human being is different and unique, but the reaction of almost every single person on hearing this song is the same – effervescence of pure enthusiasm and energy. Although dropped as a single in 2019, this original ‘Logo‘ version remains a dance-trigger. Everytime, everyday.

2. Jesu Ni Logo ft. Gil Joe & Marizu

“Awwwwwwn,” went the already super excited audience immediately Marizu was made to take over the microphone to sing his part of the song. The calmness in his vocals entirely complements the rather more rigid decibels of those of Gil Joe and Gaise himself; producing a well-balanced output for the consumers. The percussions and horns slap very hard. It’s a full expression of what Afrobeats should sound like. Credit to ace producer, Tbabz.

3. Mandem ft. Still Shadey

All the way from Lagos to London, Still Shadey’s rap verse makes it very easy for trap music lovers to hold this track skin-tight and never let go. If there’s one other thing Gaise Baba seems to be very skilled at asides making good music and wearing a legendary figure in the Afrogospel space, it would be him knowing exactly who to feature on every song of his. ‘Mandem‘ is great hip-hop, and hips will definitely hop at the sound of it.

4. Fly the Logo ft. Joe Kay, Limoblaze & Nolly

Joe Kay brings in Ghanaian flavour into this piece with his rap verse that has in it some Ghanaian phrases as well as a very evident Ghanaian accent. Nolly also sprinkles pinches of Igbo in his verse like salt to taste, while Limo brings in tubers of his amazing vocals to make this track a complete, balanced Afrobeats meal; proving that it could never go wrong with Afrobeats and Jesus.

5. Logo (Re-imagined)

This live recording of the original track had been released earlier in the year and it got a lot of acceptance from consumers of Afrogospel. Social media got flooded with covers of ‘Logo‘, all inspired by this live recording and it is only very well thought of by Gaise to include it in the EP. The live instruments add an entirely different shade of resplendence to the song – uplifting the soul and spurring the body to move in tune with rhythm.

The ignited spirits of everybody present in the room of the listening party could almost be seen swimming in the air that evening. After the last track was played, I could notice the hunger in the atmosphere for more sounds from Gaise. Regardless of how satisfying it feels to listen to this EP, everybody who does so is left with a desire for more. More of ‘Logo‘, more of Gaise, more of God. It will leave you with the hope that chef Gaise Baba will head back into the kitchen soonest to cook up something new that will keep your ears busy while you keep repping Jesus to the world, one day at a time.

Get LOGO (The EP) Here