Iyanya is the first artist from unofficial Mavin 3.0 era. After initially creating a buzz around his signing and maintaining that buzz by releasing “Up 2 Something” (with the help of his boss Don Jazzy and new label mate Dr. Sid) the singer has seen some of that momentum dissipate and “Up 2 Something” is now all but faded from the Playdata charts.
Iyanya has released a worthy follow-up titled ”Hold On” produced by Jazzy himself and this record has a softer tempo, contains relatively complex lyrics and is supported by an underlying meaning – not things you’d typically associate with a new Iyanya record. “Hold on” would have fit right into his first studio album My Story released in 2009 – you know now, those days before the Kukere master discovered that musicality wasn’t a hard requirement to be a successful musician in Nigeria. Those days before he all but abandoned R&B/soul, the kinds of music that Iyanya admits he grew up listening to.
The song cleverly plays on a sexual innuendo to drive home a larger point but being that Iyanya is the same person who’s likened his muscular body to an Oreo cookie in the past, what exactly did you expect? Church hymns?
Listen below:
Hold on, when e enter you go feel am
Hold on, when it enters, you go feel am
The innuendo is actually a sinful distraction from the singer’s potent message about patience and waiting for true love. The song was written like he was having a conversation with a young lady who’s in a hurry and Iyanya’s doing his best to calm her down so that she doesn’t run faster than her shadow while chasing love.
Wetin be your own be your own
If e no be your own, leave am alone
“Hold On” is off Iyanya’s yet to be released EP, which will be released on Mavin Records. If this is a sign of what’s to come from Iyanya and Mavin, then we’ll surely be holding on for the EP.