Introducing Buwa and his debut single Under Construction

Omabuwa Dede (born October 18, 1994) who performs under the name Buwa is a Nigerian born artist, songwriter. At a young age Buwa was introduced to the older R&B his mother listened to, and his father’s musical tastes, including funk, hip hop, jazz and classic rock. At age 5 Buwa joined the choir in the church. However at age 13 he began pursuing a career in music. At 14, he was writing songs with his friend Moses Ibrahim in High School. He is a fast rising upcoming artist in the Nigerian industry with his debut single “Under Construction”. He describes his kind of sound as energetic and fast tempo with a soulful touch popularly called the “buwa effect” by some of his fans. Buwa identifies himself as part of the new wave of R&B artistes that includes Praiz and Bez. His vocals are influenced by his role model Whitney Houston with the power in his voice.





I'm feeling a little bit guilty about what I'm about to write, because if this is Buwa's debut single, then this may very well be his first bad review. The first question I have is who da who wrote the song? It's unbelievably clunky. By clunky I mean that the words seem to escape the constraints set by the music. Sometimes it sounds like there's an extra syllable squeezed into a bar. Maybe that's the so called Buwa effect, and maybe that's what who ever wrote it was going for, but it's naff. It really is. There's nothing modern or novel about it. Maybe if the production had been stripped back his voice would have come through. From what I've heard so far, he doesn't have a bad voice even if some of his musical choices are questionable at best. There's a moment that starts at 2:10 and ends at 2:17 that I cannot comprehend. It's just so unnecessary.

I do not doubt that he's talented. I'm just not sure that this was the best way to introduce the world to his music. I don't know what to do with it. I can't party to it because it's so mellow. I can't chill to it because it's so terrible that it's distracting. I suppose I could always listen to it when I'm drunk and feeling like a bit of karaoke. The chorus isn't bad you know? Anyway, the title of his single couldn't be more true. He's definitely still under construction.

I'll tell you if I change my mind about it in a month or so.

Happy Days,
Afam