Debuts are usually heavily worded eye-openers that serve as appealing expository of their subjects. For Tomi Obanure, one of Abuja’s budding finer things, coming off as appealing on his debut mixtape, No Rest For The Wicked isn’t his cup of tea, instead, as the heaviness of his grime influenced sound and his bass inflection suggests, the persona and story projected on the five-track project is the real deal and it’s neither pretty nor ugly.
“I’m Teflon I bathe in the blood of my enemies“, lines like this spilled in a menacing but rhythmic flow open Obanure’s debut giving listeners the real taste of its raw flavor from the get-go. No Rest For The Wicked is a quarter an hour of seemingly innate, undiluted emotions delivered through muscular punchlines and synthesized, occasionally sprightly percussions. It’s concise, focused, and an appropriate starter delivered executioner style.
Obanure owns his originality, providing titles that are eponymous and holding the forte by himself with the exception of production from like-minds including Mkay, Inqboi, and Denzl, suggesting the bold nature of this project and his underrated talent.