REVIEW: Tiwa Savage defines own rules with Afrofuturistic ‘Water & Garri’ EP

BY FAITH OMONIYI

No doubt, Nigerian artiste and R&B diva Tiwa Savage soiled her hands while experimenting with Afrofuturistic sounds in her ‘Water & Garri‘ EP. But she got away with it, excelling quite nicely too.

Tiwa discussed a spectrum of topical issues around her life, music, and women generally in the five-track project.

As a woman who has held it down for several years in an industry wildly dominated by men, she speaks on ‘Ade Ori’, the second track of the EP, charging women not to be solely defined by love while still admitting the overarching need for romance. On ‘Ade Ori’, she reminds her ex what he’s missing and sings, “I don’t need you”.

‘Somebody’s Son’ projects Tiwa’s disposition on ‘Ade Ori’. This time, she is tired of getting it wrong and hopes to find love. The singer says, “somebody’s son go love me one day”. ‘Somebody’s son’ features American artiste, Brandy.

Tiwa speaks on a strong belief in self and the tenacity to go through the hustle in ‘Work Fada’, the opening track of the EP. The slow pace of this track is one to admire. It’s a beautiful solemn piece that is characterized by different tones of voices. The background vocals on this track give it an African appeal and it blends perfectly with the folk beat. A perfect Afrofuturistic tune!

Nas comes on later with a befitting rap to add icing on the cake of this track, leaving one to imagine what the video would look like.

In ‘Tales By Moonlight’, Amaarae displays her pungent falsetto and it was a delight to the ear. The EP concludes with ‘Special Kinda’, a track that sees a feature from Tay Iwar.

‘Water & Garri’ EP is arguably Tiwa’s best work yet as the singer was spot-on on all of the features. They delivered remarkably. The use of auto-tunes in this album might have been a little excessive. Sometimes it is quite hard to hear what Tiwa sings.

The album art sees two variants of Tiwa Savage but does not necessarily capture the true essence of ‘Water & Garri’.

The EP is both topically and sonically appealing. It sees a blend of traditional backing vocals slapped on a range of genres. A masterful move by Tiwa. And now, she has nothing to prove to anyone, moving in a league of her own and playing the games just to her own rules.