Teni's 'Billionaire EP' fails to land a punch

In the early months of 2017, I was driving in Akure, Ondo State when a friend called me to rave about Teni’s new song titled, ‘Amen.’ I had to park and listen immediately. I thought it was good, but not good enough to truly lead to a breakout.

A few months before that, we had discovered Teni’s IG page in its comical glory. She oozed natural showmanship like a modern day Charlie Chaplin. Then, I heard ‘Fargin,’ but I was still unconvinced till I heard, ‘Wait.’ The final few seconds of that song blew my mind just as her one-take freestyles on social media hooked me.

From there, she didn’t stop. After winning Rookie of the Year at the 2018 Headies, she went on an incredible run of three hit singles, ‘Askamaya,’ ‘Case’ and sentimental fan-favourite, ‘Uyo Meyo.’ She was on a roll, then blips started.

Naturally, she’s a creative who doesn’t want to be pigeonholed, so she started taking risks with songs like, ‘Party Next Door,’ and ‘Sugar Mummy.’ Unfortunately, they tanked. Her attempt to come back to what works with, ‘Power Ranger’ was let down by a combination of a terrible video and unfair criticism from listeners.

Amidst the madness, she has been touring the world, meeting industry giants of western music and collaborating. In a little over a year, her life has transformed. While her own singles might not be working, she has been killing features for fun since 12 am on January 1, 2019.

On October 4, 2019, she released her latest single, ‘Billionaire’ and announced her EP of the same name. On October 11, 2019, the 6-track EP dropped. Again, ‘Billionaire’ (the song) has been met with lukewarm reviews.

‘Nowo’ is the Pheelz-produced hi-life song. In Yoruba, this sound is called, agidigbo. Fuji artists like King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall have experimented with it to critical acclaim and commercial success in the past.

Teni reached into the past to influence the present. On it, she borrows from classic juju deliveries with the soul of a modern-day pop star. The song tells a story of Teni’s suitor from whom she craves proof of love. It’s a good song, but it lacks an x factor and it's unlikely to be what Teni needs right now.

‘Billionaire’ is also produced by Pheelz. It merges afro-house with Pheelz’s trademark gbedu as we heard on Olamide’s ‘Oke Suna.’ Like ‘Nowo,’ it feels like another chronicle of a seeming teenage love affair. It’s also a good song, but like we’ve seen so far, barring any late changes, it’s not going to be a hit.