While browsing through ”Hot New Hip Hop” in search of good new songs for my weekly top 10 list, I came across a project which had been released earlier that week titled ‘Prince of July’. However, what attracted me was not the name of the project, but the name of the artist, Tunji Ige, and the arm badge of a Nigerian flag on the EP’s cover. So as a patriotic Nigerian, I gave it a listen, and while it was not an instant hit for me, a few songs were enjoyable, and had forced me to learn more about the artist.
Tunji Ige (real name, Oriki Olatunji Okonji Ige) is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer who is based in Philadelphia. Tunji started producing beats since he was 11 years old. Tunji has so far released 3 projects, the first being ‘The Love Project’, which was written, produced, mixed and mastered entirely by Tunji himself in his dormitory.
Tunji Ige
The project as its name implies focuses primarily on themes of love and heartbreak, with minimalist production laced in melancholy, the project opens with the track ‘For Us’, which combines airy instrumentation, melodic singing, aggressive rap characteristic of Philly and boom bap drums.
The song has a nice bridge, as Tunji switches the tempo of the song towards the end. The love project maintains a nice balance between eerie, melodic songs, nice soul samples & charismatic flows.
Tunji’s artistic style could be compared to contemporary artists like Drake, listening to his projects, you can feel the heavy influence of artists such as Kanye West, and Kid Cudi, especially with his melodies. This is something Tunji himself acknowledges, saying that listening to his songs, he is at times reminded of Kid Cudi.
Despite the recognizable influence of other artists, Tunji blends various genres (such as Electro Dance, Hip Hop, Afrobeat etc.), instruments, and vocals to give his songs a very unique dreamy and sedative atmosphere. His “Missed Calls” EP – whose name is inspired by the fact that Tunji rarely picks up his phone – was recorded while he was on tour in Europe, and this is evident as a lot of production on the EP features influences of European electro music.
The EP is soothing, immersive and highly addictive. Tunji’s catchy hooks on songs like ‘On My Grind’ (which I listen to whenever I’m ready to hustle) inspire you to keep playing the song, and also to sing along. His interpolation of smooth vocals, is hypnotic and the entire project makes one feel like they are floating on a cloud.
Noah Breakfast
Production on the project is also handled by Noah Breakfast, another very talented producer from Philly, whose input refines his work. It will also be noted that Tunji’s work is very well mixed and mastered (right from his first project), showing how seriously Tunji takes his music, and how much hard work goes into it.
Tunji has said that culture, music and art were key elements in growing up in a Nigerian household. A standout song on his ”Prince Of July” EP, Pounds (Naira, Dollar), sees him embrace his Nigerian roots, with a very catchy hook, lovely horn arrangements, and a disgusting bass kick, this song has great potential to be a massive hit in Nigeria (this song is likely to encourage “spraying”, which is characteristic of most Nigerian ceremonies).
Even though it has a very Nigerian vibe, with him speaking in Pidgin English, it sounds almost nothing like the more traditional “club bangers” back home in Nigeria.
It would be an understatement to say I am a fan of Tunji Ige, his melodies and style while being familiar, are quite unique, something he highlights in his documentary “Road to Missed Calls”, by emphasizing that he “can’t afford to do what everybody else is doing” (his mother repeats the line several times during the documentary).
His artistry is made more evident by the creative covers he comes up with for his projects. Tunji is in the words of his mother “a very special child” and he possess huge potential to be a global megastar. We look forward to witnessing the continued growth of this amazingly talented Nigerian star.
You can check out some of his work on sound cloud: