''Simisola'' is the eponymous second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Nigerian singer Simi. It was released on September 8, 2017, by X3M Music. The album is the follow-up to her debut album, ''Ogaju'' (2008). ''Simisola'' received positive reviews from music critics, who praised the creativity and versatility of Simi's exploration of different sounds. The album was supported by five singles: "

Tiff Tag Image File Format or Tagged Image File Format, commonly known by the abbreviations TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is w ...

", " Jamb Question", "Love Don't Care", "Smile for Me" and "Joromi". Its production was handled by Sess, Seyi Keyz, Oscar and Vtek. Upon its release, the album debuted at number five on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' World Albums chart for the week of September 30, 2017. ''Simisola'' won Album of the Year and was nominated for Best R&B/Pop Album at The Headies 2018. Moreover, it was nominated for Album of the Year the 2018

Nigeria Entertainment Awards The Nigerian Entertainment Awards were established in New York City in January 2006. The awards recognize the contributions of African entertainers with a special focus on Nigerians. Ceremonies * 2006 Nigeria Entertainment Awards * 2007 Nigeria ...

Promotion

Simi released the Oscar-produced love song "Smile for Me" on January 27, 2017. Its music video was directed by Clarence Peters. In anticipation of the album, she released another Oscar-produced love song called "Joromi". Its music video was directed by Aje Films. On September 1, she took to

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to unveil the album's

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

and track listing.

Composition

Known for composing love

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s, the album sees Simi combining contemporary R&B with

highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

and juju music. "Joromi" is inspired by Victor Uwaifo, while "Aimasiko" is a remake of Ebenezer Obey's "Aimasiko". Elements of

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

can be found in "Original Baby", "Hip Hop Hurray" and "One Kain", respectively.

Singles

", " Jamb Question" and "Love Don't Care" all appeared as bonus tracks on the album. "Tiff" was nominated for Best RnB Video and Music Video of the Year at the 2015 Nigerian Music Video Awards. "Jamb Question" was also nominated for Best Soft Rock/Alternative Video at the aforementioned awards ceremony. "Love Don't Care" was released on February 14, 2016, in celebration of

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

; it was nominated in three categories at The Headies 2016, winning one.

Critical reception

''Simisola'' received positive reviews from music critics, who were pleased with Simi's progress and versatility in exploring several

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

s. Ifeoluwa Nihinlola of ''Music in Africa'' opined that Simi has progressed since her last album and thinks "she has found a way to retain the lightness of her voice and persona, while being earnest, all without turning bathetic". Filter Free's Chiagoziem Onyekwena stated: "On ''Simisola'', Simi defines her own sense of everything." An editor for '' YNaija'' was full of praise for Simi's dynamism in fusing two Nigerian classics with contemporary R&B, and further added that the album is "a project that could go on to start a new Nigerian sound". Vibe's Cyclone Artemis, who wrote a song by song review, pointed out that the "deep chemistry" between Oscar and Simi makes the album "in a class of its own by quite a number of standards". Reviewing for Pulse Nigeria, Joey Akan observed that Simi "delivered on her promise of good music" and went on to argue that "in many ways, it is the best that Nigeria has seen in 2017". Adeyemi Gbolahan of TalkGlitz Media added, "the album didn’t contain sounds like most Nigerian body of works that boasts of the ‘''pon'' ''pon''’ sounds." Describing the album as "quite predictable", Adeoluwa Atayero of ''

Nigerian Entertainment Today The Netng (Nigerian Entertainment Today) also known as ''NET'' is an online entertainment news organisation based in Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estima ...

'' wrote a mixed review. However, he remarked that ''Simisola'' is "one of the strongest musical pieces of 2017 and without a doubt a step in the right direction".

Accolades

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's official liner notes.

Personnel

* Simi – primary artist *

Adekunle Gold Adekunle Almoruf Kosoko (born 28 January 1987), known professionally as Adekunle Gold and AG Baby, is a Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter currently signed to Def Jam Recordings. He gained widespread attention after releasing the 2015 hit ...

– featured artist * Fiokee – live guitars * Alaba – live percussion * Dami – live sax * Ayo – live bass * Obi Somto * Simi - mixing * Vtek – mastering * Oscar – production * SeyiKeyz - production * Sess - production * Vtek - production

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Simi (singer) albums Albums produced by Sess Albums produced by Vtek Albums produced by Oscar (record producer)