Finally Voice of the Street, Olamide Baddo
Drops The Highly Anticipated UY Scuti Album.
YBNL Boss and EMPIRE rapper, Olamide
releases a brand new album titled “ UY Scuti ”
to kick start 2021 official. The music project
which is a follow up to Baddo’s 10th studio
album, ‘ Carpe Diem ‘ is a classic album.
With UY Scuti , Nigerian rapper Olamide
continues his evolutionary cycle on his
eleventh studio album. A follow-up to 2020’s
Afrobeats-tinged Carpe Diem, this project sees
him set comfortable flows over roots reggae,
R&B, Afrobeats and pop soundscapes.
“ Carpe Diem was the beginning of the new me,
and I took it to the next level of brand
Olamide’s new direction on this particular
project,” Olamide tells Apple Music . With a
widened palette, he packages the lessons of
his early street days into pop ditties that
reflect his expanding worldview.
“ I’m a citizen
of the world now, so my choice of sound is a
combination of all the beautiful music I’ve
heard ,” he says.
“ This is a full-time pop album,
and it’s way, way above everything I’ve ever
done. My son is a huge fan of astrology, and
one day he asked me what the biggest star in
the universe was. I found out; it stuck in my
head and I titled the project that because it’s
the biggest move I’ve made in my career .”
Here, he talks us through this momentous
offering, track by track.
“Need for Speed”
“‘Need for Speed’ talks about the ups and
downs of every typical ghetto kid, but I used
Lagos as a point of reference. When I was
younger I used to walk to school and
whenever it was raining, cars would splash
water on my brother and I.
I used to say, ‘I
can’t wait to be rich and hopefully I don’t end
up like those people.’ I used to think I would
never, but I’ve done such things unknowingly
several times since I became rich, too. Life is
like a sports car, and there’s no way you’ll buy
a sports car and not want to speed.”
“Jailer” (feat. Jaywillz)
“‘Jailer’ was just vibes and feel-good music
from me and Jaywillz. He came up with this
hook, then we started cooking up the chorus
and the beat as well. We were just trying
different sounds from around the world as I
chopped verses up. I’m taking a bit of
everything and just mixing it up with my
Afrobeats sounds nowadays.”
“Rock”
“There’s too many problems out there, so
that’s what we do now: have fun, turn up and
listen to good music. It’s majorly about telling
someone you love, ‘Hey, you don’t even need
to do too much for me to keep being with
you.’ Sometimes I think society in general
puts too much pressure on how a lady should
look—dress like this, move like that, do this
and that for your man. And the men, what do
we tell them to do?”
“Julie”
“This song is me telling my woman that I
know I’m crazy and not 100% perfect, but the
kind of love I get from her is so amazing I’m
willing to surrender everything. I wanted a
mixture of that Caribbean feel just to take it
away from the regular Afrobeats vibe.”
“Rough Up” (feat. Layydoe)
“This is a small bashment vibe, you know?
Just true to the dancehall vibe. While I was
working on this record, I went for a show
somewhere outside Lagos. I was bored on the
road trip, and while searching for Chaka
Demus, I stumbled on a ’90s dancehall
playlist. The moment I heard all those sounds,
I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna try something like
this on my project.’ I also knew someone that
could actually kill this. I’ve always known
Layydo, and she was actually meant to be on
Carpe Diem with me. I called her up to come
and do justice to the song, and she did.”
“Want” (feat. Fave)
“Fave is my G! I stumbled on her music when
my wife sent me a link to a song of hers last
year. I checked her out and thought she was
dope. Right now, we’re family and I can’t wait
for the whole world to listen to her and see all
she’s got. We just linked up and recorded a
series of songs, and ‘Want’ is just chilled R&B
vibes—some laidback music.”
“PonPon” (feat. Fave)
“This has a whole sensual vibe to it and we’re
just setting the mood right like the previous
song. I just thought we needed to flip it a little
bit at this point, slow the run and keep it
smooth. Just spice it up with something
different.”
“Cup of Tea”
“This is a proper, proper Naija thing. There’s a
lot of traditional Nigerian vibes in it, with the
percussion and all. ‘Sho’ is just saying, ‘I’m
gonna look after that…I got you’ in Yoruba.
While coming up, I was a rap artist, and I
grew up thinking you always needed an R&B
singer to do your chorus. It was very difficult
to get one while coming up, so I was like, ‘I’m
not gonna wait on nobody no more.’ I started
developing that part of me, and I have just
kept working on my hooks. I’m not 100%
where I want to be yet, but I guess it’s paying
off so far.”
“Somebody” (feat. Phyno)
“‘Somebody’ is basically about being all
around the world and seeing different girls.
They love me and I show them love too, but
that’s not the kind of love I want now. I need
someone that makes me feel really special. I
don’t know how this song made it to the
album. Phyno just came to visit me randomly
and we just wanted to play around. We’d
planned to sit down, record a series of songs
and just give them out to friends like DJ
Enimoney. I was up recording all day, and by
the time Phyno got there I was so tired. I went
straight to the mic and started recording the
chorus, but after that I just slept. The next day
I woke up and they told me Phyno did his
verse and left. When I heard it, I knew I had
to finish this song and put it on my project.”
“So Much More”
“This has a roots reggae vibe to it, just a little
bit faster. The song has lots of depth and it’s
very special, ’cause growing up I’ve seen all
the drama women go through. I dedicated this
song to all the women out there, just to let
them know that they might as well just live
their lives, ’cause no matter what you do,
people are going to talk. There’s no point in
rushing into anything just to please your
friends, family or society. While you’re here,
make the decisions that are best for you,
’cause there’s only one life!”
“Petty (Bonus Track)”
“This is about a cocky guy—me. Ladies are
always gonna come around and say no to the
cocky guy because they need a chilled guy,
someone they can control. The song’s just me
saying, ‘I’m cocky, I know—but I’m a cool
dude, yo!’”
Listen ‘UY Scuti’ Album by Olamide below