Thank God for growth, but this Hip-Hop-loving life can be hard. The Wande Coal hype got to me. It
was difficult to accept that anyone could drop an album to rival those by my Hip-Hop heroes – I was wrong.
It took a rendezvous to see my friend's buxom, pro-melanin cousin who came to write her post-UTME exam for me to listen to 'My Grind,' the final track on 'Mushin To Mo’ Hits' or 'M2M.’ I was blown away.
10 years down the line, with the Nigerian sonic terrain having a natural bias for commercial/dance music, 'M2M' is easily the most important Nigerian music album of the past 10 years by some mile.
Arguably, the first time we caught a snippet of Wande Coal, born Oluwatobi Wande Ojosipe was in 2006 - a year before he got signed to the now defunct Mo’ Hits Records.
In 2018, he spoke about how he got signed to the now defunct label, “'I met D'banj and , they came to my college, I freestyled for them and Jazzy was like, do you have another song, so I started beat-boxing and we did some songs together, then Jazzy got my number.
“2007, I got signed, had to leave school, I was in my final year, then I went for my first trip to America, did a show, came back.”
He appeared on three songs from D'Banj's second album, 'Rundown/Funk You Up.' He had back up vocals, 'Loke Loke,' 'Why Me' and 'Tono Sibe.'
Vigilant people would have also noticed him as a dancer in the video for 'Aiye Le' off Tade Ogidan's OGD All Star Jamz in 2006.
His grand announcement was off the Mo' Hits compilation album, 'Curriculum Vitae' released in 2007 where he featured on almost all the songs.
All the popular songs on the album featured one masterclass or the other from Wande Coal.
Songs, 'Pere,' 'Booty Call,' Be Close To You' and the more individual, 'Ololufe' put an identity to Wande and the hype grew. By the time singles, 'You Bad' and 'Bumper To Bumper' dropped as build up to 'Mushin To Mo' Hits,' it was certified.

The Album

To great fanfare, the album dropped on April 12, 2009 – 10 years ago. Every song was a hit and this was the result;

‘Ololufe’

Officially, it was the first song we knew off ‘M2M.’ The song became the love song that set University students on the path to romances that fizzled out as quickly as they started. It featured with secondary school students on their path to their first kiss.
This is evidenced by how Nigerians U-30 still sing with immense passion whenever the song comes up at shows. Wande was soft, sweet and romantic on this song, offering reassurance to a woman he loves. While the beat mirrored Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You,’ the defining moment was the music box moment at its start.

‘You Bad’ featuring D’Banj

One of the first singles off the album, Wande transitioned from R&B crooning lover-boy to the typical hormonal young man, dealing with his attraction to women of all shapes and sizes. He starts by singing, “You bad, you want it… I know you want it cos you bad…”
Just as the song was relatable to both sexes for its topics of attraction, sex, and lewd romance, that we were all trying to work ourselves into, it set dance floors on fire from Lagos to Zaria.
Birthdays and parties had the song on repeat and true natures of wildness got unleashed once it came on – it still happens with nostalgia. The D’Banj feature just drives everyone to madness.

‘Bumper To Bumper’

Starting off with the magic of warped-out guitar effects and rhythmic drums, toms and snare before transitioning with an increased bass undertone around the time, “Make you follow me Bumper To Bumper”comes on. In fact, this beat arrangement of taking foreign pop rhythms and adding African percussion is the blueprint of every evolution of pop sounds that’s come since then.
The Samklef ‘Nonilizing’/Wizkid ‘Superstar’ era to most things Kizz Daniel, Reekado and Rema’s ‘Dumebi’ are broken down reflections of that moment. This is not to say they would have no career without Wande, but he did it first and made it attractive.
The “Omoge je’kalo o, kilo’n duro de…” fuji moment Wande invoked at the end of this song ensured even Nigerians over 35 at the time got attracted.

‘Taboo’

A song that merged the compulsion to marry a woman one loves against all odds with the danceable 2000s R&B on a mad hook is all anyone needed. Topically, lyrically and by embellishment, this song was always going to be a hit. The brilliance of this song was summed up with the, “Ki leleyi ileke…” and “Ileke…” that started the song.

‘Se Na Like This’

Quick one: Nigeria is still embroiled in everything Wande complained about 10 years ago and even worse. Make no mistake, the reggae-esque beat of this song was too good to be wasted on Nigeria, but at the time, it was what we needed.
The electro strings were so infectious, we were dancing to Nigeria’s documented problems of light, water and corruption. Wande couldn’t wait at the time, but it’s a pity that we’re still waiting. Since then, we have been through an economic recession.

‘Who Born The Maga’ featuring K-Switch

Don Jazzy was an unreal music phenomenon of his time and beyond. This beat merged the Indian effects which Timbaland & Magoo and Just Blaze were known for in the early 2000s with the brilliance of a guitar riff and Hip-Hop percussion.
Interestingly, it was a ruthless, spiteful song of a man looking to prosper off his work. Special shout-out to K Switch.
‘Jehovah’ and ‘Se Ope’
On ‘M2M,’ there is something for everybody. Being a church boy, I guess Wande making songs for that constituency was always inevitable. Interestingly, he talks about how he fasted and prayed.
In themselves, these songs were probably extras for this album, but their power came with the demography they affected and the effort that went into making them appeal to the pop audience simultaneously. Gratitude is such an underrated human sentiment.

‘Kiss Your Hands’

A poetic song of appreciation, popularized by its freestyled, supposed remix. “The girl is so damn fine… Allow me to kiss your hand…” It was an appreciation of womanhood and a monument of consent in a world riddled with sexual harassment. He asked to touch her in a way that warms the heart of even the most cold-hearted woman – flattery.
It was like a perfect first encounter scene in a romantic comedy. Being the fourth track on the tracklist, it underlined the perfect balance of lyricism, impeccably conceived and executed production and well-timed engineering. It was also another moment to celebrate Don Jazzy.

‘Confused’ featuring D’Banj

The most underrated song on this album. This was a Don Jazzy masterclass, merging passive OJB moments of 3 years prior with Timbaland’s and Danja’s 2003-2008 run which culminated in Nelly Furtado’s ‘Promiscuous Girl.’
The Don Jazzy moment of brilliance was picking up the repetitive sample, “You got me confused…” and putting it on a loop alongside the spazzed vocals that ran under the beat around everytime, “I go give to you…” came up. This song is basically about the brilliance of production and Wande’s perfectly executed hook.

‘I Know You Like It’

The pop moment that opened the album. When we heard the Jay Sleek produced, 2Baba’s ‘Implication’ in 2010, some thought it was pristine. It was not, it was a direct offspring of this moment. Forget the lyrics for a second, listen to the production. This was like merging a Max Martin-produced Britney Spears pop song with danceable African beat.
The determining factor was the snare drum. Wande delivers a tale of braggadocio about his sexual prowess without anyone noticing exactly what he was trying to do. This song merged generations into one.

‘Now It’s All Gone’

The second most underrated song on this album. A break-up song that chronicles the tale of love gone sour. Relatable in itself and bearing the signature Don Jazzy-vocals as an undertone and impressive lyricism/penmanship – a since underrated part of Wande’s artistry. He sang, “I used to feel the butterflies in my tummy, I used to get the chills when you hold me…”
Coincidentally, it also houses my sole critique for the album; ‘Ololufe’ should have come before a breakup song. But then, the type of beat that housed this song perfectly fits the segues we had been getting. ‘Ololufe’ might have been too up-tempo. The piano chords that make up the song are memorable.

‘Bananas’ featuring Dr Sid

Another love song. At the time, Wande was a self-confessed R&B head, so he had to represent.

‘Ten Ten’ featuring Mo’ Hits All-stars

A love song that was off the South-African alley. Don Jazzy is a visionary for bringing that underlying guitar riff into the mix, but it wasn’t until ‘Fall In Love’ that he really perfected that South African effect.
But in 2009, it blew radio and wedding parties off.

‘My Grind’ featuring Mo’ Hits All-Stars

Hip-Hop. Perfection. D’Prince’s best verse. Also, the third most underrated song on this album.

‘That’s Wots Up’

The niche favourite on this album. It is like the ‘Homecoming’ moment on Kanye West’s ‘Graduation’ or ‘Holy Pass’ moment form 2baba’s ‘Face2Face.’

Verdict

Not just that, 'Mushin To Mo’ Hits' regally positioned Wande Coal for the name he'd belatedly assume 8 years later, 'King Coal,' 'Mushin To Mo’ Hits' became the progeny of nearly all contemporary Nigerian commercial/dance sounds with a fraction belonging to K Solo and Terry G.
Wande Coal is also the stylistic progeny of nearly all modern Nigerian afrobeats artists. Except you are from Agege with a niche sound behind you, you reflect Wande Coal's style, impact, flow, and approach to beats in some way, however little. But usually, it is major.
While Wande Coal's talent will inevitably and rightly take plaudits, the detail, creative organization, timing, production, track-list and overall engineering of 'M2M' must win Don Jazzy and the entire Mo’ Hits team behind this album some plaudits. This was no one-man feat, it’s too much to be even a three-man victory.
Even the album title, 'Mushin To Mo’ Hits' was masterful conception. Experience has taught me that music relatability is 80% subconscious. When album has a title of the classic grass to grace story, coupled with an identifier like 'Mushin,' it registers.
Artiste and repertoire (A&R) on that album is worthy of emulating. A few people understand everything about that album was strategically conceived. Its tracklist made segues seamless and transition near-ethereal.
The dance songs came at the right time and the vocal switches came at the right time on songs. Even stylistic genre-warps like 'My Grind' and 'That's Wot's Up' came impeccably timed. They were also conceived well enough to never disrupt the seamless transition of that album.
Every string, every beat count, every bit of percussion, every lyric was impeccably timed.
If Tubaba's 'Grass to Grace' album chronologically and creatively mirrored the rearranged diary of young Nigerian life, 'M2M' represents the aspiration of young Nigerians.
It is rare to see an album of 16 tracks have no fillers. I will go on a bender and say this ‘Mushin To Mo’ Hits’ is the best Nigerian album over the past 20 years. It was unmatched and it remains unmatched. If this album had dropped in 2019 – not 2009, it would still have banged HARD.
•      Ratings: /10
•      0-2: Flop
•      2.1-4.0: Near fall
•      4.1-6.0: Average