Get into Blaqbonez’s Sex Over Love with These 7 Songs | Album Review

In 2019, when Emeka Akumefule’s rapper persona, Blaqbonez, started to peak, his music and artistry gaining the attention he’d worked hard for over the span of 6 projects, finally paying off, he’d stirred things up further by dubbing himself ‘the best rapper in Africa.’ This was a title he gave himself over a diss song titled likewise. For some, the 5 minutes 30 seconds song was considered the hardest diss track of the year that placed him on the watchlist of many. Now Blaqbonez is back with his first full-length album-- Sex Over Love, and this time, the album has been birthed from the aura of his alter ego, Emeka the Stallion, a bad boy rapper and singer who speaks for many members of his generation by placing value in physical touch over emotional connections. Sex Over Love was released on the 30th of April to the arms of eager fans after being much-hyped by Blaqbonez himself. If you’re looking into getting into the 14-track-long album, here’s a review & list of 7 songs to begin your journey into the world of Emeka the Stallion: 

1. Novacane

This is the introduction to the 14-track-long album, and it sets the precedent of the crystal clear sonic quality of the entire project. Here, as he introduces his formidable bad boy persona with lines like 'I got pussies wilder than the Serengeti,' Blaqbonez’s voice flows over gradually rising guitar chords to match the tempo till he switches to trap just as the beat drop hits. 

The song is finished off with the voice-over of Blaqbonez battle rapping a phantom opponent, a gimmick that very well serves to refresh our memories of the rapper who is self-assured enough to take on any lyricist in a rap battle while still being able to sing like everyone’s favorite pop musician. 

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2. Heartbreaker ft. Nasty C

Over bouncy and heavy 808 beats seasoned up with snares, Blaqbonez goes into full Emeka the Stallion mode as he casually tells us about being a heartbreaker unable to reciprocate the emotions of his lover. Nasty C then completes the bad boy victory lap as he flows effortlessly and rhymes over the beats to create a hip-hop anthem for bad boys everywhere. 

3. Don’t Touch

One thing Blaqbonez set out to establish is the fact that he’s one of the best rappers of his generation while being a talented singer with the skills to switch seamlessly between the two roles. Don’t Touch is the perfect submission to this end as for the most part he delivers a perfect summer jam where he sings about his feelings of possessiveness towards his love interest. Then in the most unforeseen transition within the last minute of the song, he unveils the rapper in him to deliver Drake-Esque introspective bars. 

4. TGF Pussy

Prior to the release of Sex Over Love, Blaqbonez had made it known that he would with his album, bring up rarely had discourses. And indeed on TGF Pussy, which transitions perfectly from the last seconds of Don't Touch, the rapper touches on the importance of gratitude, going on to conclude his crisply narrated story to highlight that gratitude should be shown to sexually satisfying partners. 

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5. Okwaraji

The typical Nigerian body of work has tracklist archetypes that entail a song of gratitude song, a love song, and the feel-good, cocky song that reasserts the worth of the musician. For Sex Over Love, Okwaraji is that song as the rapper likens himself to the iconic footballer, Samuel Okwaraji. The rapper however continues to remain his multifaceted self as he leaves room for vulnerability, going as far as to let us know how from soured love experiences, he became the heartbreaking bad boy. 

6. Fendi ft. Joeboy

A sensual bop made for the club and the affairs of the 'other room', on Fendi Blaqbonez once again flexes his singing abilities as he provides the highlight of the song by delivering the chorus. Joeboy soon takes over with searing lyrics that stay perfectly on the topic in a way that signifies him switching from being a lover boy to the other side of the field that rejects love. 

7. Best Friend ft Cheque

Blaqbonez may have taken a stance against love but he remains discerning enough to not zero out the importance of human connection. Best Friend shows him coming to that realization as he appreciates a special friend who has been there for him even when he was too caught up in work to keep up with them. Discernment of a different degree can be seen in the fact that Cheque who lays the perfect hook for the melodic-rap-inspired, hauntingly sweet instrumentals is the only featured artiste to provide the highlight of a track.

Sex Over Love is Blaqbonez's ninth musical project and is in itself, a lesson on perseverance and hard work while constantly pushing and bettering your craft. But beyond that, the rapper has shown from his perfectly executed singing entries that he is not only a rapper to be feared but a singer to be respected and in general, one who has the making of the ultimate rapper slash pop star.