Timi Dakolo’s Listening Party for The Chorus Leader
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- January 22, 2024
Hope you’re doing well and you’ve had a good week so far. For me, the highlight of my week was attending Timi Dakolo’s listening party for his new album titled The Chorus Leader which officially drops on the 26th of January. Attending the listening party was also a beautiful opportunity to gain insights into the singer’s creative process. Even better was that I shared that moment with my friends who are also music lovers like me.
In excitement about his third studio album, Timi Dakolo states, “The Chorus Leader is a project I poured my heart and soul into. It is a celebration of music, love, and talent we have as Nigerians. I can’t wait for my fans to experience this musical journey with me.” When speaking about the title of the album, The Chorus Leader himself said he’s been blessed by God with a gift for making sweet, catchy song choruses that are easy for people to sing along to. He literally hears them either in his sleep or while going about his day and just like that, he’s got the chorus to another hit song. Cobhams Asuquo, who featured on the album as a producer and singer, also confirmed this at the listening party.
In Timi’s words;
“The whole idea is, I grew up in church, I learnt praise and worship choruses and as a person I discovered that in the process of songwriting and developments, I know how to write choruses, it comes it for me and the people that make music with me will know that and will agree. Cobhams is here, first I used to think that I was mad. I can call Cobham’s by 2am he suffered in my hand. I’ll just call him and say Cobhams, wake up just wake up. Something is playing in my head”
To which Cobham’s himself replied, “I suffered. By 3am, 5am, Timi will call me with a new chorus” from a corner in the audience.
Timi continued, “The chorus is like the bride, everyone can dress very well but they cannot dress better than the bride because it’s not their wedding. I put the best ideas in the choruses and I make sure that I write them and sing them in such a way that everybody can sign along with it.”
Calling himself ‘the chorus leader’ is apt. It’s a perfect description of the music he makes and how it makes you feel. I love that Timi uses his life experiences and other relatable life stories to create music that we can either learn from or relate to in one way or another while being entertained by his unique voice and beautiful, melodious instrumental arrangements.
If you’re looking for music that speaks to your soul or a body of work that takes you on a journey of emotions and life’s nuances, then this new album has that vibe and more.
The track list for this album includes songs like Omo Ayo (my personal favourite. A Yoruba word which means Child of Joy), This Woman (which features Falz, Phyno, Cobhams and Black Geez), Life [Na So E Be] (which features Patoranking), Premium Enjoyment (a song that I’m sure will be popular amongst the ladies) and Men of the South, which is the first single off the album and rightfully so because it carries a presence just like the men Timi sings of in the “war chant” sounding tune.
Be sure to check our instagram handle @thewilldowntown to watch a video of me (@ekiogunbor) at the event.
I can’t wait to share all my music loves with you but starting today, I’m introducing a new segment to my column called SGD Spotlight. In this little segment, I’ll be sharing my favourite thing for the week. It could be a book, song or movie. A destination, meal, word or quote. Whatever I’m loving for the week, you’re going to hear it here first. And for today’s first pick, it’s a slang, a popular Gen z slang.
SGD Spotlight:
Slang of the week
“Cap”
Meaning: To lie or exaggerate; something false or untrue.
Example: “He said he has a million followers, but that’s cap.” “She’s capping” “No cap, I think it’s true”
Have a great week fam!
Eki Ogunbor has a Vogue Fashion Certificate from Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design and also attended Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion and the University of Kent. Eki headed the Design Operations at a top Nigerian womenswear fashion brand before developing her own brand, KISARA. She is the Editor-At-Large at THEWILL DOWNTOWN.
