Review: Niniola’s This is Me is a decent debut

The surprise comes as early as the second song ‘Oyin’ (honey in English), which sees the lady work her 1990s R&B bona fides. Since pre-rap Banky W few Nigerian acts have made R&B as good as 'Oyin'. In fact, not many mainstream acts still work in the genre, so that by placing ‘Oyin’ early on the listener is ambushed with pleasure. That the song is about a different type of pleasure is fitting.

As we have come to expect, there is a bit of Yoruba innuendo lurking within Niniola's lines on 'Oyin': “The insect eating the leaf is within the leaf,” she sings. That is usually a harmless Yoruba saying, but take another look at the verb in that translation and consider that throughout the song Niniola sounds like she’s caught between yearning and moaning. Exactly.

Elsewhere she isn’t quite as coy. On ‘Magun’, she says in English, “there’s only foreplay for you”. The title translates to “don’t climb”, referring to an anti-sex fatal charm in Southwest Nigeria.

For a new act, Niniola exudes confidence, featuring only a single artist who may be considered high profile, and even then the song with Patoranking is stranded at the end. And that confidence extends to a deserved pride: the album states clearly that “all songs written by Niniola”. When was the last time a Nigerian pop act thought her lyrics were good enough to own up to writing them on her album jacket?

Although she has become famous for afro-house, Niniola, who turned 30 last year, has other influences, two of which are rather plain. Her album title recalls the Jennifer Lopez 2002 album This is Me... Then and her video for 'Sicker', one of the album's highlights, channels Missy Elliott. Like those Americans, both of whom were inescapable in Niniola's teenage years, Niniola offers a fusion of melody, sexuality and dance. So while her language is often Nigerian and her music steeped in the African tradition, at the very least a part of her sensibility is forged by western pop.

This combination yields the hit track 'Maradona'. But on album opener 'Moyo', where producer Johnny Drille's rock guitar strings dominate the proceedings, the effect sounds out of touch with the rest of the album. It is a decent song but I think it should have been released as a non-album single as previous Niniola/Drille collaboration 'Start All Over' was.

At the other extreme is 'Saro', which is overwhelmed by its own African music aspirations. Songs like 'Rora' and 'Magun'—respectively produced by Legendury Beats and frequent collaborator Sarz—are better, as Niniola's singing and the synthesised beats are both given room. The latter song uses an incantatory-like chorus to great effect.

It is possible to imagine a slimmer set of songs than This Is Me contains, but it is not exactly possible to conceive of a truer album. If nobody's perfect, then This Is Me as a semi-biographical document presents Niniola as similar to her album: a flawed and yet delightful package. 

Artist: Niniola
Album: This is Me
Label, Year: Drumroll Records, 2017