Review: Wizkid incorporates all he loves in ‘Smile’ visual
By Adigun Temitope Idealism
When Nigerian Superstar, Ayodeji Balogun popularly known as Wizkid released a track “Smile” off his highly anticipated fourth album “Made In Lagos, ” it received many mixed reactions – some fans believed the song is for an international audience, while others said they prefer the old Wizkid to the new one.
The song “Smile” which is doing pretty well with numbers featured the Grammy Award Winning US singer/songwriter, Gabriella Wilson who is known as HER, and they both explained what unconditional love is all about, which is probably one of the reasons Wizkid decided to give his sons cameo appearance in the visual.
Many people while reacting to the song claimed Wizkid has switched his sound from the popular Afrobeat to other genres. Some critics were of the opinion that it is gonna be difficult for Wizkid to find a home in the Nigerian market with his new found sound cause it is now difficult for fans to understand Wizkid’s transition.
A lot of people thought he is gonna change the style in his next track “No Stress” but it seems Wizkid has found peace in his new sound, it is left to fans to adjust themselves to his new genre.
The Review Proper
Wizkid has always proved to be a versatile artist and that’s why his reggae approach in the instrumental structure of “Smile” is second to none. His vocal melody coupled with HER’s smooth non-stressing vocal brought out the positive vibe in the song which is totally the aim of the song.
Even with the nice vocal lines of the two artists, listeners can never forget the relaxed approach of the instrumentals. The electric vocals of the artists would always put the listeners in a good mood.
There’s definitely no point doubting the vocal strength of HER with the way she followed the rhythmic pattern laid by Wizkid in his first verse. It did reveal that she knows what music entails.
The Artistic level of the visual
Meji Alabi’s artistic approach to creating a clean cinematographical music video for “Smile” should be appreciated. The concept of bringing all Wizkid’s sons to appear in the visual creates a good mood to the viewers.
Earlier, people had given the song the opinion that it is not a Nigerian type of song but immediately the visual was released, you could see some elements that portrait the Nigerian mood – there is always something new to look forward to in every section of the visual. This is absolutely worth celebrating in the visual.
There is no how you would watch the “Smile” video and not focus on the positivity that “Made In Lagos” would bring.
