Azania Album Review
By : Stone
Azania follows Love Girls as Reason’s 6th Studio album. According to Reason, it took him two years to make, even though he dropped love girls midway through 2017. It’s an idea you can come to respect once you hear how well he sticks to the theme for this album. Azania is 14 tracks long, made up of 13 full songs and one short intro.
There’s a good mix of poetic and trap beats that all have a bass-rich sound throughout the span of the album. Reason roped in a healthy set of features both on raps and choruses. Here’s a break down of the tracks after giving the album a few spins.
Nkosi Yam’
Nkosi Yam touches on how ridiculous the state of our society is. Pressure to live up to certain standards, doubting faith. Preachers living it up while preaching to those that have nothing. This is a thought-provoking track that effectively achieves what it was intended to. Reason also gets to showcase his rap skill, switching to different tempos without going off beat (unlike someone who got a feature in the album). The beat is a beautiful, yet simplistic blend of piano keys and bass.
Banani Mavoko
Banani Mavoko starts off with some religious references. On this track, Reason is having fun rhyming. The raps aren’t necessarily pointing in any defined direction. No hard bars but the rhymes and flow are alright. Reason takes the time to express frustration with how “everybody” (his audience) wants deep shit but they were tweeting negative as soon as he got shallow. This explains why he has switched his style and “got inspired” on some occasions but in my view this is hardly ever the same sample of people. So Reezus would be better off doing him, being him and catering to those that like his music.
Cashless Society
Three tracks in, Azania is proving to be a conscious album as could’ve been expected from the title. The track features Ginger Trill and the theme puts a focus on the effects of a corrupt and broken system. Two verses, one for each artist and they both do it some good justice. A definite must-hear.
Champagne and Water
Champaign and Water is the first joint on the album that takes a lighter note. Mick Jenkins is featured on the first verse. The rap content is about events of a night out, drunk dialling, smoking and bad-bads. Reason also reserves some bars to address the hate he gets and the little fucks he gives about that.
O Suna Mang
O Suna Mang dropped a few days ahead of the official album release date. It features Kid X and Kwesta on the verses over a kwaito style beat. My take on this is that the second verse is a waste. This might be because of my bias against the off-beat, rhyme-missing style Kid X likes going with. I mean, get the technicals right for once dawg. The change in flow Reason does on the first verse isn’t as smooth as it could’ve been. Good rhymes, no noteworthy bars picked up here. Kwesta takes it with effortless delivery and slick word play. Kudos.
10111
It’s back to conscious raps. The love and hate relationship between society and the police is a global problem. Reason addresses this phenomenon from a local context. Not really sold on the vocals but the verses are well-executed. Reason keeps it short with two verses.
Home Alone
When a dude talks about being home alone, you know what time it is. Some butt cheeks getting parted. Reason reaches into his story telling bag for this one. Best you hear it yourself.
Byela Mina
Jazzy beat with a hint of slowed down dance hall sound. Byela Mina has a good live feel to it. It’s all sweet nothings on the raps. It features pH RawX on the chorus and he does a stellar job with it. Good musical effort.
4 The Kidz
It gets personal when Reason and Mr Beef deliver a message to their kids. Gotta respect how direct they went with it, they could’ve easily gone generic and cryptic. Reason talks about the changes they’ve had to go through on his side and good moments they have to look forward to. Beef on the other hand expresses regrets at the missed moments and memories the kids may have of his absence. But all that will be made up for in due time.
420 #ntp
Featuring Gemini Major, this trap joint is about numbing pain. The hook makes a reference to 420, which at face value would come across as a reference to weed and it would make sense given the context. But @Mahoota11 deciphered how this might be smart word play given that a bottle of Henny could cost around that much in Rands. So it could be interpreted as needing wee ‘cause they are out of Henny, or they simply need a re-up of the Henny. Double entendre, bitch. There’s only one verse. Reason executes a trap flow with no mumbling. The melodies from the Asian flute and country guitar strings are in perfect harmony with the mood of the song.
Bag Dat Happiness4sale
The bass is still pumping. This is a two-for-one special with a switch up of beats between the two verses. The part about Happiness4sale talks about the type of nice time money can buy you when you have a lot of it to burn. Happieness4sale is a shorter piece, kind of an interlude. The bulk of the time is taken by Bag Dat, where Reason raps about a girl with an expensive taste that wants him to make it rain. The woes of a young man who is cash strapped but will do anything to impress friends and a demanding girl.
Lying
One thing you can give Reason is how he gets real with his raps. On here he takes on the facades people put up and the state society is in because of that. It all comes at a cost. The state of things is nothing to write home about. Who’s fooling who? People start believing the lies they tell and get lost in the worlds they’ve made up in their heads. Quite poetic.
Azania
The title track was the first single to be dropped off the album. It was done in collaboration with Swizz Beatz and Sibongile Khumalo. When listening to this one I prefer to put focus on the raps ‘cause that’s where it’s good. The verses paint a picture of how things are in South Africa. It’s a more vivid picture than on any other track on the album. Struggles with substance abuse, addiction, unwanted teenage pregnancies, lack of ambition and drive… all things the youth are battling with. It’s not all hopeless though because the message is that you can break free from the chains and free your soul. Reason places himself as the hope for those who can draw inspiration from what he does. The second verse is more personal and touches on fears of falling off and the motivation family brings.
Azania is a solid album, easy to digest, a good body of work. It does a great job in taking on social issues without being dull and repetitive. All the songs come together well to drive a single theme through. Azania can be found on all digital platforms.
comments
be the first to comment