Category: EP – 6 tracks, runtime – 17 min
Genre: Hiphop, Afrobeats
Release Date: 26.July.2024
Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ – 7/10
Instramento! (inside reference). Ambroy’s direct on “Enjiri” So much so, the title track is the opener. It launches out with a MIDI-ish mini progression, which is soon joined by restrained light beats & muffled screams of the project’s name. The beats grow denser around the same time the rapper lets loose his smooth bars of the “me against the world” variety, in mostly Runyankore, along with smoothly timed sprinklings of English. Humor-laced & hungry, Ambroy quips that he doesn’t care for fame, only money. This straightforwardness is contrasted with pleasantly nuanced production, which makes for an absorbing two and a half minute affair.
“Pain”, the followup, is ushered in by a poignant synth. The song is a shift from the previous stompy hip-hop to more of an Afrobeats feel. Ambroy croons melodically, evoking moody nostalgia about a past relationship. There’s hints of sourness and existential angst too, all fitting, but slightly undermined by a few mismatches between melody and wording. Less to do with melody & more about lingual awkwardness. It’s fortunately short-lived, because the chorus mines beauty from the anxiety of the tune’s overall theme. Part of the main refrain alludes to one’s reflection haunting them, and yet it’s delivered with such graceful catchiness that it eases you in. Is the chorus overproduced? Maybe. But then again, it ends up being an apt device for heavy despair. Even so, the piece ends on a lighter note; a literal voice note of someone offering a shoulder of support through it all.
The mood gets lighter from then on. The third track “Celebrity Girlfie” is carried by an imposing beat & a tense humor. In a swaggishly slurry tone, Ambroy sings of dodging a partner’s attempts at having his baby. “Konka akamiro k’esente kakyendeeze,” he advises her, aware of a monetary angle to her maneuvers. And yet he’s still sentimental enough to compliment her beauty in the next few breaths, and even propose an alternative; that she should let him pursue his superstar dream, and in turn she’d benefit by being… you guessed it; a celebrity girlfie. Hints of moral escapism aside, the song’s a lighthearted bop. And it once again proves that Ambroy can lay down a killer chorus when he’s in his element. For a rapper, he has such a neat grasp of melody.
“Inside Out”, the next piece, attests to this same strength, except that it’s flattened by a lackluster chorus in comparison to its predecessors. The rap spell is a positive, otherwise. In terms of sound, that is. Lyrically, it’s desperately raunchy for a bit. Overall, the song’s not the project’s highest moment, to put it mildly.
But “Time” comes to the rescue. Leading with a heavy recurring riff initially, there’s an aura of finality about the track, despite it being the second last on the EP. A thin atmospheric sound layer stretches across the beat as soon as the singing commences. Once again, the chorus stands out. Tuneful and memorable, it ends with one of those witticisms that are scattered throughout the project: “Time ain’t a virtue when you’re having fun.” The swelling synths that blast after it lend it a weight. And it’s at points like these when you appreciate that you’re listening to a product of layered intentionality, the same kind that’s evident in the choice to end the piece with ominous, harmonic humming.
The closing track, “Star”, is as pious as it is braggy. At one point, the rapper shoots down a comparison to another artist who hails from the same region, and he’s clearly justified in doing so, as a listen through his catalog attests. Worthy of note, there’s an inspirational, and even devotional air to the song. Its self-congratulatory tone is tamed by expressions of gratitude to a higher source. And just like that, a project that sets off in an irreverent rowdy tone finds it close in devotion & gratitude. By most indications on here, that’s not meant to be a contradiction, but a show of diverse parts in the same spectrum of emotions. That’s not to say there isn’t more room for components here to gel better into each other, but that the independence of the pieces on their own is part of the very concept of this project itself. We’re curious to see where Ambroy takes it from here.
