The voice has remained. The kologo too. Yet, a lot has changed musically for King Ayisoba since albums like »Wicked Leaders« from 2014. While his hiplife used to feature a mostly earthy sound, due both to his stringed instrument and his throaty, slightly croaky voice, the electronic production style typical of hiplife now sets the tone. The mix is quite interesting. You can’t exactly pinpoint what’s handmade, what’s sampled or what purely comes from a computer. It’s the same with the singing. King Ayisoba often remains in the background, leaving a great deal of space for his various comrades-in-arms, who sometimes work with more volume than he does or for their part exploit the advantages of Autotune. The artificial and the »natural« coexist in peace. The King is as critical as ever in his lyrics, singing against corruption and other grievances, although only a few numbers on »Work Hard« are sung in English. Otherwise, one can only assume that the messages are no less committed. Upbeat protest music and very danceable too.
Work Hard
