Oluwatobilola Ajibola’s prowess as a vocalist is a blend of serene, sonorous and soulful.

The Nigerian Gospel musician first caught this writer’s attention during her performance at the Polydipsia Worship Concert, in the United Kingdom. She performed a thrilling cover of Dana Wylie’s “You Are Good, You Are Kind”, with an entire choir of backing vocals, and a melodic section that packs guitars, drums and pianos.

When Ajibola sings, her sonority makes you listen deeper. This emotive intensity in her renditions elevates both tonal clarity and activates catharsis in her performances. In her “You Are Good, You Are Kind” performance, she unfurls with slow-paced chanting, singing, “You are good, you are kind/ I have never seen your kind/ I am devoted to your praise/ And forever to your name.” She refrains this chorus with a rousing crescendo that stretches with melismas and intentional pauses, immersing the listener in the song’s overall lyrical and sonic depth.

Another interesting highlight in Ajibola’s performances is her mastery of pacing and tempo. When she screams, “You are goooood!”, cueing the backing vocals simultaneously into a call-and-response, the energy of the performance is heightened. This lyrical emphasis approach appears consistently, as she repeats certain phrases; while increasing tempo to adjust the intensity of her delivery.

Midway through the record, she sprawls into a faster pace and louder tempo, occasionally scat singing to add some melodramatic depth to her delivery. Towards the outro, she piggybacks on this intense tenor, slowing the song down with a soulful, melisma-laden delivery, backed by an impressive allargando (that is, slowing the vocals, while increasing the tempo of the instrumentals). This approach enlivens the record, while boosting its cohesiveness, altogether uplifting Ajibola’s stagecraft with heavy replay value.

In another similar rendition of “Oh be lifted above other gods”, Ajibola establishes this pacing instinct as her signature arrangement style in her live performances. She opens the rendition with a spoken word prayer interlude, with her lithe vocals hovering above chill piano chords. She hums into the vocal section, pacing the record with a soothing delivery, “Oh be lifted above other gods/We lay our crowns and worship you.” But the gusto in her performance lands almost immediately with a nerve-jacking crescendo that ushers in her powerful counter-tenor. Ajibola sings like she is aware of the intimacy of her soulful flow and the vibrance of her urgent crescendos. She mixes both cadences into a clear tonal structure that keeps the overall delivery charged, warm, yet soulful. It’s her sleight-of-hand technique that helps her achieve the sort of harmonic balance where her voice is both the star of the show and its conductor.

Overall, Oluwatobilloba Ajibola’s musicality finds its most pristine expressions onstage. Her stagecraft elevates her work as a vocalist, with her signature delivery being a bright hallmark of her sonority, arrangement and band-synchronisation. Her performances, while tailored for large auditoriums and arenas, have a versatile impact on all listener types alike. The sweet spot in her artistry lies in the emotional intensity, duality and emphasis that she evokes in her delivery. It’s the type of record that can be enjoyed in a warm meditative afternoon, or in a large-scale Christian concert, with the same type of impact to be achieved. With shock/replay value and catharsis being her lowest hanging fruits, Ajibola’s live performance artistry is a rare gem in Nigerian gospeldom, ranking the singer as one of the most energetic and charismatic contemporary mavericks to watch out for within the scene.