EP Review: Ice Prince Celebrates His Wins & Struggles on ‘To Be Continued’
The Nigerian rapper hasn't lost his touch.
At the height of their reign, Chocolate City-affiliated supergroup Choc Boyz—M.I. Abaga, Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince—were one of Nigeria’s beloved Hip-Hop trios. They were the face of the then Audu Maikori-owned music label and, with memorable songs and solid projects, imprinted their influence into the fabric of Nigeria’s popular culture. While M.I. Abaga was rightfully the most decorated (critically and commercially) of the trio, Ice Prince ensured his quality was unquestionable: “Oleku,” his 2010 Brymo-assisted song, was the starting point of his journey into stardom. The song, sweetened by Ice Prince’s clever lines lived on the lips of every Nigerian music lover and became one of Nigeria’s most-remixed hits of all time. Ice Prince’s 2011 debut album ‘Everybody Loves Ice Prince’ completed his winning run, cementing his place as one of the country’s certified hitmakers.
When he left Chocolate City in 2015 (where he dropped two more projects after ‘Everybody Loves Ice Prince’: 2013’s ‘Fire of Zamani’ and 2015’s ‘Trash Can’), Ice Prince set up his label Super Cool Cats, under which he continued dropping more music and gathering a loyal following, with tunes such as the Phyno and Falz-featuring “Feel Good,” the Oxlade-featuring “KOLO” and the CKay-assisted “Shakara.” On his latest project ‘To Be Continued,’ which is tagged as an instalment in the rapper’s ‘Trash Can’ series, Ice Prince and his small cast of producers—Runcheck, Blaisebeats, SB and Chopstix—confirm that he has more musical goodies in his bag.
“Mehn I’ve been down/I’ve been heartbroken/Look into my eyes/You see the scar shows,” Ice Prince raps on “Bless,” setting the stage for an introspective peek into the challenges of his past. He reveals how his professional work collides with his personal and romantic lives when he raps, “Airport and hotel’s the routine/But when there’s no booking/I get mood swing/I’m on the phone arguing with my lady/She don’t understand/Why the boy’s gone crazy/I wish I could explain/But the words all fail me.” Throughout the song, Ice Prince is at home on Runcheck’s guitar-led mid-tempo production and he finds consolation in his soliloquy with the lyrics, “Everything happens for a reason/Bless.”
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