Reminisce Scores More Points, Fans With Baba Hafusa

SINCE 2011, when he broke through into the game with his hit single, Kako Bi Chicken, singer, rapper and songwriter, Remilekun Abdulkalid Safaru, known by his stage name Reminisce, has remained a dominance figure in indigenous rap music in Nigeria.

With two albums already in his kitty, the self-acclaimed Alaga Ibile, has justified his position as chairman of tradition. He has more than held his own in the scheme of things in the industry, releasing street bangers like 2 Mussh, Eleniyan featuring Wizkid, Daddy featuring Davido, Fantasi, and Government featuring Olamide and Endia.

On his recently released LP, Baba Hafusa (interpreted as Hafusa’s father, the name of his first daughter), the rapper is believed to be at his most ambitious, proclaiming his success as one of Nigeria’s top rappers, which also has elevated rap status.

Filled with street bangers, the 16-track album is a celebratory rap record that hails the success of the rap star as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian rap music.

The album is a collection of contemporary highlife songs that mark the rapper’s triumph in the rap game, while the song, Otiya, reflects his new status.

Baba Hafusa, Skilashii, the controversial single Local Rappers featuring Olamide and Phyno, Tesojue, Saida and Kososhi are all in the album and created to cater to the goons of Ibile nation.

While Sean Tizzle, lend his voice in Gbamilago, R&B singer Sojay, who is signed to Reminisce’s imprint, drops a soulful, emotional hook on the opener, Grind. His expertise on Nothing featuring Vector and presence added an introspective angle to the album.

In Busayo, Reminisce and Ice Prince are seen doing it for the freaky girls, trading bars and not losing the flow of the Young John produced dark thumping instrumental.

The rapper’s finest moments come on Alagbara featuring Sossick, who produced most of the tracks on his last album, and I Need A Girl. Sossick’s spiritual Yoruba chorus is one of the finest moments on the album.

Though the album is believe to be a dope, but what holds it back is the level of production, as it fails to push Reminisce as an artiste and utilise his voice.

Despite the flaw and not taking a giant leap, Baba Hafusa is a strong LP that showcases Reminisce’s flashy lyrics and deep knowledge of street music as he takes two steps forward.

The Kwara State Polytechnic Purchasing and Supply graduate says he enjoys indulging in enjoyable recollection of past events and his dream has always been to make music that people will reminisce about in the future; hence the adopted the moniker Reminisce.

Discovered by the prolific producer ID Cabasa, alongside his friends Jahbless, 9ice, Lord of Ajasa and Olamide, Reminisce has had flair for music since childhood.

He grew up listening to various genres of local and foreign music, which helped form his versatility in his music career. Back in his secondary school, he performed at various school activities; little did he know he was on a path to great things.

He has always wanted to be a rapper and his favourite rappers growing up were Nas, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg. He developed his rap skills by listening to and mimicking the rap legends.

He had his big chance to record his fist studio song in 2006, before recording a full hard core rap album that was never released due to a break from the game in order to complete his tertiary education.

In 2008, he made a return to the music scene, when he featured on a track Bachelor’s Life in 9ice’s sophomore album titled, Gongo Aso. He later recorded his own singles, and the dream of an album then became very real.

He dropped Ever Since, featuring 9ice, a story about his life. He afterwards dropped If Only, a love song produced by D’Tunes, where he showed his versatility as singer and rapper. Both songs established him as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian music industry.

His last album, Alaga Ibile, bagged him an endorsement deal with Samsung, Orijin, a fruit herb drink, and reportedly sold a million copies.