[Review] Jung Magin – Issokay Now the E.p Review

For those who do not know, Jung is one of the few able fellows pioneering and facilitation the movement of Battle Rap in Nigeria, I feel excited writing about this. Far away in (well, somewhere outside the country), he puts in quite an effort to keep the connection.

THE TAPE

Anyways I wanna talk about his recently released tape because I can. ISSOKAY NOW is the title of the project and it features creative acts like  UziqualityHitman & 5thPresident JagaLaur’e PenKornyBix-FDr Cardio & QueenModa.

First, I want to say I was shocked listening, and I keep getting a little bit of this Naija infusion here and there, wait.. not with the choice of beats though. I mean, this guy dey chook Naija lines enter once in a while for him verses and it kinda just makes it a bit appealing for me., like yeah, that’s more like it. Naija to the world.

Now on to some real talk.

THE MESSAGE

Well, I sincerely feel like the message got shoved aside as early as the second track. I mean, when I see an album’s title, I would expect a break down and a piece of the title in every single track on the so-called tape. Especially on a genre as Rap, which gives enough room and platter for gerrymandering in self expression.  Hence, this tape has succeeded in taking the same inauspicious route which most other rap tapes coming out the still growing Naija’s grass root rap scene has taken, a tape who’s original idea got siphoned  half way, intercepted with unnecessarily dope verses subconsciously aimed at invisible competition which in turn birthed self hype and lustful gratification. We then have to give the glory to the first track which I think has been the priority of our lead act here, Jung Magin.

CHOICE OF BEATS

Ok, as a rapper I know most dudes are very critical about this. The choice of beats here I would describe as solemn and a little bit of horror, to be frank it leaves a curious mind confused. Soft but banging, the mixture is cray I tell you. I wouldn’t say I am 100 percent with it but I searched through the debts of my dark critic mind and I can find no atom of reason as to why I should put vehement force into criticizing these beats. So, I will let those pass. I must add that, convened by my headphones, I quite frankly enjoyed the sounds they brought to my ears.

PRODUCTION

I have noticed a difference in the balancing of the tracks, which might have been as a result of multiple sound engineers mastering different tracks or other factors. Or maybe it might have been during the process of uploading hence I cannot be too confident dishing out discrediting balderdash on the efforts put into the final mastering of those jams. But to say the least, the clarity of the songs were obvious to the ears and fair enough to say the least…

LYRICS

Incase you didn’t know, all the featured act on this project are Nigerian battle rappers, well except Laur’e Pen and Korny. What does that tell you about the rappers? Well I thought so. But wait a minute, coming with the prestigious profile and the herculean responsibility of being battle rappers, would I say the lived up to expectation? They already faltered by drifting off course with the subject matter., Hence I would say the disappointment drags on.

Come to think of it, Issokay Now might just not be the type of Title that might have brought in inspiration for numerous tracks needing to relate to it. Maybe drifting was not even the rappers’ fault, at the end of the day, maybe the title was just not perfect enough for a whole body of work turning out to be something with Ok tracks. Well, Issokay Now.

FAVOURITE TRACK

Well, this would be a tough pick, Jung had 11 tracks on the e.p which, (drifting overlooked) were all nice jams. I would say I enjoyed track 4 (Music All Day). It feels very original. Got two guys talking some real shii about how they live their daily lives. But you know the messed up thing about this track here yet again is that, I struggled to get why the track got the title, the verses were almost violent. Especially the verse two which was nicely laced by that boy Bruce Lee with the Bars, known really as President Jaga. I am starting to think it was all part of the plan. You know, making songs that are not related to the title there in. I am guessing Jung would have to put a call through to me to explain himself. Maybe I might revisit this review. Stay tuned.

Let’s get down to our computerized rating and see what this project has scored. Scroll.

 

Issokay Now by Jung Magin

Rating
6.2

Production

7.0/10

Lyrics

7.0/10

Performance

6.0/10

Features

6.0/10

Promotion

5.0/10

High Points

  • Great listen
  • Nice choice of beats
  • Clarity
  • Dope verses
  • Great featured artistes

Low Points

  • Beats can get lukewarm
  • Replay value debatable
  • Swayed off album topic
  • Needs more fusion

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