P.Centric’s latest release, The Year Everything Aligned, arrives as a celebratory and inspirational anthem that marks a pivotal moment in the troubadour’s career. Unfurling as an EP of eight songs, P.Centric, born Prosper Kelechi Anozie, explores progressive Highlife, Afrobeats and pop fusions with a deft mastery of his delivery and songwriting.
The EP begins with “Kelechi Nwam”, a heartfelt ode by his mother Mrs Margaret Anozie.
Layered over cinematic chord progressions, she prays for her son in Igbo language. The translation reads, “My dearly beloved son/ I gave birth to you/ And named you Kelechukwu/ Because I thank God/ Every day of your life/ My earnest prayers and wishes for you is that may God bless you with long life and good health/ May you be outstanding in the society.” The soulful interlude sets the tone for the EP. It revisits a trend within core Igbo highlife discographies from The Cavemen where maternal blessings are usually tucked within interludes.
The EP segues into “Amarachukwu”, which introduces his highlife fusions in full swing. Woven with giddy Afro pop percussion, while maintaining the highlife melodies via guitar and piano chord progressions, the song pulses as a catchy melody. “Amarachukwu/ O bara uba/ Na Ebem nno,” P.Centric sings the chorus with a soothing, slow-burn cadence that flips into a charged alto in his verses. He explores melismas, crescendos and repetition to texture his delivery with a very vivid emotional intensity, a signature that appears across the EP, especially in tracks like “All Over Me” and “In You”. The EP itself is a didactic tape sprawling with Christian spirituality themes. In “Amarachukwu”, he’s grateful to God for his blessings, reminding oneself that “Over eight billion people/ (Yet) You still see me, El-Roi”.
The EP builds around this theme of gratitude and celebration. It continues with “All Over Me”, which essentially praises God for his enduring blessings. “What have you not done for me/ I feel your blessings all over me/ E ba mi ra baba, fo ba ogo,” he sings, code-switching Yoruba and English into the record. P.Centric’s style of using slow chants and repetitions, especially in his choruses, help build both tonal clarity and lyrical emphasis. The EP generally drifts along a warm tonal structure that finds its most electrifying moments in its verses.
By the foruth track, “In You”, P.Centric immerses the listener into his vivacious soundscape. Tuned with airy violin strings, slow drum kicks, lush flutes, and a linear piano chord progression, he continues his soulful delivery. “You are/ You are more than words can say,” he sings with a piercing refrain that injects catharsis into the record.
He continues this soulful drift in “Not Alone” and “In A Hurry’, delivering both records with a dramatic tension-and-release that paces the record with a signature groove. For P.Centric, the emphasis remains on spotlighting his profound messaging, as each track underlines his inspirational, faith-based themes, charging listeners to remain confident in God (‘Not Alone’), and to remain steadfast in one’s faith (‘In A Hurry’). Lyrics like ‘When I wan check my time/ I no dey use another man watch o!’ enshrine his perspectives clearly in the latter.
Apart from his messaging and pace, P.Centric’s arrangement also eases listenership in The Year Everything Aligned. The EP moves from fluid, hyper-melodic highlife, to soulful Afro Pop, and RnB, exciting listeners with a pace that’s both chill and charged. He unites all the tracks with his piano chord progressions, tucking in that emotive feel that’s commonplace across Afrobeats today into his soundscape. The melodies are simple, soulful and sincere, pulsing with vulnerability, relatability and shock value.
The EP closes its curtains with “What Else”, a lounge pop/RnB-soul fusion that truly illuminates P.Centric’s versatility. His mesmerizing alto, “What else am I looking for?/ Everything I need is in You lord,” strings the entire song with his signature sombre tone.
Across The Year Everything Aligned, P.Centric’s fluid delivery styles, buttered with a silky cadence, dynamic pace and sticky lyrics reign supreme. It’s the type of record where one is drawn to the sonics first, before being awe-struck at its messaging. Its engineering and production also give the record an edge, especially among contemporary Afro-fusion records, brimming as a classic example of a Christian gospel tape that feels less forced, more introspective and, overall, giddy.
Ultimately, P.Centric’s The Year Everything Aligned rings off as a thanksgiving record. Its thematic direction, arrangement, shock value and emotional duality highlight it as an evergreen jam, poised to have significant replay value. Its lyricism and delivery connect the most as its strongest pleasure point, while the subtle undercurrent of heritage — from highlife to pop soul — distinguish P.Centric’s artistry as one to watch. It sits at 8/10.
