Success as a Street-pop artist leaves an artist with two options: chart a course to become an emblem or leave the streets for a global pursuit. A third option blurs the line between both promises, yet only a few artists are confidently and successfully capable of embodying it. Seyi Vibez, in his eighth studio album, Swaguu, finds himself tethered to his desires for ambition and Western success, but with a remembrance that his core artistry is rooted in the cultural and sonic style that has always shaped his identity.

Unlike his previous album Fujimoto, where his embrace of Western influences conflicted with the attempt at sonic evolution, this 14-track project suffices for the disconnect that ensued between the audience who earnestly waited for ‘Loseyi Professor’ that once knew.

The album opens with “Volume,” an introspective mid-tempo track that carries you on familiar terrain of the singer. Here, there’s an emotional undertone as he sings about his hustle as an artist, the importance of his music, with an acknowledgement of his core fans. It establishes the feeling that his constant pursuit of money is for his loved ones.

That emotion seeps into the video game-themed track “GTA”, a love record that maintains the album’s momentum. On “Diamonds”, he leans fully into the romance theme with a passionate yearning to splurge on his lady. This track finds him explicitly avoiding the Yoruba language, mirroring a Western cadence and intonation, highlighting a departure from any form of his usual linguistic terrain. Perhaps an attempt to display his range, it leaves no lingering impression other than its creative ambition.

“The darker the berry,” he sings on the next track. On the House-inspired production “Melanin”, Seyi Vibez continues his yearning for romance with an appreciation for a dark-skinned woman. The track’s minimalist production by Mally Mall and background vocals cover the singer’s modestly impressive lyricism.

But the up-tempo Dibs-produced track “GOD” sets the singer back on track. On this percussive-inflated record laced with trumpet and choral backing, Seyi Vibez flexes his artistic prowess in reference to God, his maker and source. That infectious energy is intensified on the Amapiano-led record “Pansa.” Over the groove-laden track where he sets the cadence of Mara later exerted on the album, there’s an indisputable theme of bravado, as he acknowledges his serial hit-maker status.

A worthy mention about Seyi Vibez’s discography is his ability to shine best when he fully explores the cultural side of his artistry. Whether it’s a Fuji, Apala or Igbo Highlife-inflected record, it is where he is sonically liberated and expressive. “Ilome” proves this further. The mid-tempo traditional folk record embodies a spiritual groove and eargasm where Seyi alternates between Yoruba, Pidgin and Urhobo.

“Dem be dey show power dey throw jazz / Dem don forget say na brain be jazz man.” Amidst the track’s reflective message and divine supplication, he sends a reminder to naysayers that intellect and clarity of mind trump the malicious intent of terrestrial manipulations. The immersive string elements and background vocals are a noteworthy production collaboration between Seyi Vibez and Larrylanes.

The sequence changes at the entry of the pre-released pop record “Back 2 U”. Like “Diamond”, this track fails at its creative attempt at experimentation despite its feel-good expression. But “Alafia” picks up from the lost emotional pocket to immerse him in the vulnerability of love. The track finds Vibez singing out his soul as he intimately describes the safe space through the image of a woman.

“El Jaja” changes the thematic course again, where he returns to a sonic framework from his earlier albums. On this track, he is unmistakably boastful of his swag beneath the lambas and lyrics set on his eyes for his woman’s body, with a subtle jab at colleague Adekunle Gold. Albeit this writer cannot ascertain the need for the Spanish spluttering of his own praises at the close of the track. “Alubarika” keeps up with the sonic framework. But on this slow tempo track, he plunges into a traditional and Islamic supplication for peace and wealth.

“Akpan Akpari” finds him exploring Mara at its finest without its purest form, but with more than enough street energy to keep your feet glued to the dancefloor. “No Seyi, No Vibez / when you come to my party, you must gbese,” again, Seyi Vibez reminds us of his prowess in delivering party bangers. Bringing the album to a close, Seyi Vibez reinvents the party anthem “Oble (Original)” with DJ YK Mule. Here, he fully expands Mara to his best with additional vocals and lamba.

Although the album closes with the Street-pop record, the album placement of the outro “Swaguu”, featuring American trap star Quavo, interestingly finalises the album. Other than the experimentation with the trap record, one would wonder why the album’s thematic track arrives with such a sequence and unfinished.

This album, although not necessarily represented in the weight of its title, sticks to the thematic language of his long-standing artistry that many listeners earnestly miss in his recent discography. While the quality of work is evident, the inconsistent sequencing on the album distorts the cohesion the album intended to create.

At best, Swaguu is an almost balanced body of work that gives core fans a myriad of tracks to hold onto beneath his lingering yearning for an expansive project. This writer believes in blurring the line between sonic evolution and cultural identity; it leaves Seyi Vibez with a personal satisfaction in the borders he wants to cross.