Album Review: Prettyboy D-O’s Pleasures Come from Pain on Love is War
The Nigerian artiste shifts from dancehall to hip-hop to afrobeats with his mind fixed on women, haters and the Nigerian government.
The 2018 LP Everything Pretty was rapper and singer Prettyboy D-O’s breakthrough project. It introduced listeners to a persona that the artiste, real name Donald Ofik, had created after years of false starts and self-doubt. On the project, the coloured-hair D-O, armed with his raspy vocals and determination, unleashed an infectious aggressiveness on the beats that flitted from dancehall to hip-hop to everything in-between.
On his latest 14-track project Love is War, the aggressiveness remains. It hasn’t been dulled by the years that have improved Prettyboy D-O’s fortunes in the music industry. He is still angry with his enemies and the Nigerian government. But unlike Everything Pretty and 2020’s Wildfire, where even when in party mood he is always seeking to shed the toga of “underdog,” Prettyboy D-O, or African Rodman (a reference to former American basketball player Dennis Rodman) as he calls himself, stews in the full glow of stardom on Love is War, for which he held listening parties at Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris.
On “1996,” which was the year Sani Abacha, the late Nigerian military general, presided over the country, Prettyboy D-O takes shots at the Nigerian government for implementing regressive policies and not providing opportunities for the youth. He refers to the annulled June 12 1993 presidential elections and shouts out Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti who was arrested at his home in 1996, one of the consequences of his critiques of the military government.
Prettyboy D-O, who was born in 1991, makes a damning observation on the two-part “Rodman Style / Dre’s Interlude” when he raps, “Politicians/The ones wey dey for office/Be the same ones wey dey from when my mom deliver me.” In the first half of the song, he draws a comparison between the complications in the country to his determination to get things working in his favour. “If you add to me stress, to react is compulsory,” he announces and that energy seeps into the second half of the song, which features Nigerian artiste and producer Dare Kasali. Both D-O and Kasali fire threats after threats at their enemies.
On “Belly of the Beast,” which features Nigerian singer Nissi and Nigerian dancehall artiste Sugarbana, Prettyboy D-O understands the cutthroat nature of being Nigerian and fighting to make something of their existence. He declares that he is ready to return the energy of haters. Nissi delivers a serviceable chorus and Sugarbana is on the outro, chanting about the unfairness of life. Those sentiments reappear on “Living in Bondage” as Prettyboy D-O points out that Nigeria is a place of short-lived dreams and dead ends and the only way to navigate and survive is to respond to the violence of the place with violence, whether mental or physical.
On “If They Send U,” Prettyboy D-O reminisces on his past struggles and warns enemies to stay away from him. Gambian-British rapper and singer Pa Salieu and D-O call on God to keep evil away from them on the drill-influenced “Lord Protect My Steppings.” Nigerian rapper MOJO AF delivers a stellar verse on “Broke Boy Fc” as he and D-O vow never to go broke again and pledge allegiance to Chop Life FC, a reference to AF’s “Chop Life Crew,” which features D-O.
Away from complaints about the government and shots at haters, Prettyboy D-O is also preoccupied with women, most especially the women he is sexually active with, who happen to be women in relationships with other men. This situation D-O frames as simply one of the benefits of fame. On “Too Many Gyal,” he lays the blame on his imperfection as he sings, “Girl you know say that they tempt Jesus/Jesus/Who I be if they tempt Jesus?”
In the first half of the two-part “Kumbaye / Sideman Interlude,” he calls on his female admirers to party with him. On the trap-infused second half, which serves as an explanation to a man whose lover has the hots for D-O, he raps, “Boy me no want your chick/But chairman it looks like she made her pick/I spent 12 months on the road/You expect me say no if shawty want ride the stick?”
Angolan-British singer and rapper IAMDDB matches Prettyboy D-O’s sexual energy on the bouncy “Falling.” She switches between Portuguese and English, teasing her lover about a good time but warning that she can’t be cuffed. On “Hanky Panky,” which is dancehall music sprinkled with Caribbean vibes, Prettyboy D-O is determined to be intimate with a love interest despite her deceitful ways. On the project’s official single “Police n Teef,” Prettyboy D-O tries to explain his way out of trouble after being confronted by a mob of angry men. “I ask she got a man/But still she not talk?” he raps.
One tune “Toyin Tomato” diverges from the zeitgeist. On the song, whose title is a dedication to Nigerian actor Sola Sobowola’s popular character on the TV drama series Super Story, D-O fixes his attention on a love interest and provides a list of women she ranks above: Toke Makinwa, Moet Abebe, Genevieve Nnaji and Agbani Darego.
It all comes together on the pop number “Trust Issues” as Prettyboy D-O explains why he is always on edge. He points an accusing finger at enemies and music industry wolves who want to pull him down from reaching the apex of his career. The fear and hate on D-O and his oppositions’ sides is a byproduct of weak and inhumane government practices that have produced very few chances of growth for a very large population.
As with other Prettyboy D-O projects, Love is War benefits from the artiste’s great ear for beats that fit his genre-bending, bubbly style. The producers—Dare Kasali, Hvrry, Higo, Killertunes, GMK, Genio, Trill XOE, Leumaz, LeMav and TimLyre—deserve applause. Love is War finds Prettyboy D-O blossoming in his space, safe from the harshness of bad governance and envy from peers.
Go HERE to stream Love is War.
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