Music is an essence of survival to many, as pure listeners and also, career-wise. It captures the entirety of attention, evokes emotions, creates, and brings back memories. Speaking of memories, one would never forget that night at Savage Xtra’s show. On the 9th of March, 2024, during a brief vacation to the heart of Rivers State, my friends and I stopped briefly at the OY To The World carnival, Oyigbo, Port Harcourt. One could hear the crowd chorusing from miles away, it was a captivating experience. The event was filled to the brim, with all eyes on Savage Xtra as he performed with his exceptional and talented band. On the way back home, I could not resist checking out the song everyone sang along to, “Left and Right”. A man who had single-handedly sold out over 7000 tickets in a city is not one to be overlooked. I made my findings and got to know more about Savage Xtra and listened to his brilliant discography. His songs were literally music to the ears.
Savage Xtra, originally known as Uche Barry Nwachwuku rose in the music industry with his breakthrough song, “Left and Right”, a song out of his 3-track album called ‘RF Vibes’. With over a million streams on music platforms, Savage’s melody brings out his talent for making beautiful music. Shortly before his tour to East Africa where he has a huge fanbase, Savage Xtra released a music video for “Blessings”, depicting his gratitude for the gift that life has to offer and praying to God for more blessings. The music video was directed by LENZO. It's good to see his commitment to promoting African music. In an interview, Savage Xtra speaks on his roots and how he's committed to assisting upcoming artistes from under-served areas.
About three years after releasing his first album, the fast-rising artiste’s hardwork has contributed to the future release of his sophomore album, ‘Young, Blessed & Dangerous’ set for June 2024. Using his initial release, “Blessings” as an intro, is the perfect choice as it pulls the attention of his fans. The mixture of beats and familiarity sets the perfect mood for listening to his album for his audience. It is a short rendition and easy to sing along to. Featuring Ejima 042 on “Daily Prayers”, the same optimum as the intro is maintained. The use of his local dialect is commendable, setting a different standard. Similar to the other songs, “Sanko” and “Pay Me”, sound like listening to the same version of songs over again. While this is great for Savage Xtra’s signature sound, he shouldn't be limited to following a pattern. Room can be made for exploration, just like the sampling in “iPray” featuring Ghostd and “Paper”. Love is a beautiful theme and the artiste is not laid back in jumping into his ‘real lover’ era with “Delilah”.
Savage Xtra slides back to his comfort zone with “Broken Homes” featuring Goodlife and Jahplaka. The reggae input, however, was top-notch. Infusing Amapiano beats in “Enter You (Ebelebe)” gives a distinct feel. On the “Dealer Man” track, Savage Xtra had Stylez Omata pledging his love and Ononi singing about money and his outstanding style of doing things. “For The Doe” featuring Moseric has a graceful flow, especially because it seals the fact that Savage Xtra can experiment with several genres, if willing. The artiste dabbles into the rap genre featuring Goodlife on both “Nightmare” and “Feel My Legs”, alongside Moseric and Phyloryda. Closing the album with “Feel My Legs” seems like a stretch. Although a nice song, it gives an incomplete wrapping up to the project.
In terms of lyrics and outstanding performances, special mentions go to “iPray”, “Blessed”, “Delilah”, “Paper”, and “Dealer Man” as they stand out and paint the artiste’s pen game as formidable. Aside from the overbearing length of the album, ‘Young, Blessed, & Dangerous’, every listener is assured a good time and moments filled with danceable beats. ‘Young, Blessed, & Dangerous’ should be on your pre-save playlist today!
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