On ‘Born of God,’ Ada Ehi is resilient and grateful [Pulse Album Review]

Born in Lagos right into a household of churchgoers, she began singing and performing within the choir earlier than she was 10. Her humility will make her dispute it, however she was a baby star. After she graduated with a level in Chemical Engineering from the distinguished College of Lagos, she commenced her profession in music.

14 years down the road, the kid star has blossomed into certainly one of Nigeria’s largest and most acknowledged superstars. The secular world is likely to be wilfully blind to her exploits, however the bigger a part of the Nigerian mainstream is aware of who she is.

In 2019, she was one of many most-streamed Nigerian artists on YouTube and her content material continues to rack up the numbers throughout all streaming platforms.

Born of God is her sixth physique of labor. The 16-track album spans one hour and 16 minutes. Like loads of Gospel albums from Nigeria, it’s impressed by ethereal spirituality. It’s title is closely steeped in 1 John Chapter 5:four. The album is a testomony to Ehi’s elementary Christian id; an proof of her inspiration and an emblem for her victories.

To Ehi, to be ‘Born of God’ is to have loads of issues in your favour, in addition to the boldness to undergo life. On the album opener ‘By no means Go Down,’ Limoblaize raps, “I do know that [God] obtained my again…”

It aligns with the general spirit of the album and the resilient nature of the file, on which Ehi proudly sings, “We’ll by no means go down…”

Like Limoblaize, Ehi’s confidence comes from her place as a human who’s ‘Born of God.’

What’s extremely spectacular in regards to the file is its sound, which steps away from the atypical Different Rock that’s change into emblematic for Nigerian Gospel.

It’s a Synth Pop file with an attraction that’s destined to transcend the Church crowd. The identical will also be stated of the sounds that start, ‘Now’ and ‘The Bridge.’

The beat for ‘Now’ seems like a beat that OneRepublic, Think about Dragons or Bishop Briggs will leap at whereas the beat for ‘The Bridge’ feelss uited to Owl Metropolis or Ed Sheeran. Her declaration of affection of Christ on ‘Everytime’ additionally feels One Republic-esque.

Throughout the remainder of the album, she principally extols God by reward and worship information – typically, excessive reward turns into dwelling to her testimony. However on ‘Every thing,’ which has the melody-rich, Different Rock sound that’s change into emblematic for Nigerian Gospel, she declares the sovereignty and reliability of God.

Alongside the legendary Sinach, she sings about her will to repair her eyes on God. As she ‘Thank[s] God For Life,’ she sings, “My life will all the time be an affidavit…” after which sings aloud, “Hallelujah! Jesus is alive and since he lives, I stay…”

Even when she sings about her journey to a ‘New Stage,’ she nonetheless defers to her maker as she sings that, “Your phrases give me victory…”

She additionally depends on the Holy Spirit for that journey as she sings, “The [Holy Spirit] is taking me to a brand new stage…”

She declares that God can by no means make a mistake, can by no means lose his method and can by no means lie. These phrases sound acquainted, however within the general context of this album, it means extra. Ehi just isn’t a rookie anymore, she is a celebrity within the earliest days of her institution run. After this part, she’s going to change into a kingmaker in Nigerian music.

The songs on the album are supposed to underscore every little thing that’s gotten Ehi up to now. This can be a declaration of alignment because the bedrock for the peace of mind of greatness.

She additionally declares that God is ‘Extra Than Sufficient’ for her, she declares that every one energy and glory belongs to God on ‘Now.’

She then sings that, “We’re stuffed along with his spirit and authority. So within the identify of Jesus Christ, the time is now…”

Her phrases carry extra conviction and even when she generally breathes, it feels symbolic. Such is the depth her phrases and tone painting. In some unspecified time in the future whereas listening to this album, an attentive listener realizes that a few of the issues Ehi says are unconscious; part of her interior cloth.

Her coronary heart is stuffed with gratitude and this album is a dedication to her maker for giving her all she has.

Because of this, she declares her will to ‘Shine’ aboard an Afro-pop beat which may actually crack the Nigerian mainstream, if it’s correctly marketed. However the pinnacle of that tune comes when Chize sings, “No dey run from darkness, no neglect who you symbolize…”

‘Lastly,’ ‘Discover’ and ‘Olodumare’ observe the same trope of excessive reward, constructed on Afro-pop. However by all of it, the message stays the identical. This part simply provides the album some selection.

To her credit score, the music isn’t all private, she reserves some consideration for her viewers on the Buchi-assisted ‘Congratulations.’ Together with her data that “God is sweet,” she declares and professes good issues into her viewers and congratulates them.

This album has little criticism merely due to the sheer substance it carries. Nonetheless, a few of these issues may have been higher;

1. Despite the fact that ‘Shine’ begins the excessive reward part of the album, it may have come later – possibly whilst an album nearer. ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Shine’ ought to have been the ultimate two tracks on this album, from a storytelling standpoint.
2. One in every of ‘Lastly’ and ‘Discover’ ought to have been minimize and the album may not have missed ‘Right this moment’ if it didn’t make the minimize. 
3. It then brings us to the purpose of album size. Whereas the Gospel crowd is totally different and a few of these songs had been created with the stay efficiency in thoughts, we stay in a streaming period the place listeners have shortened consideration spans. A number of the songs on this album may have been lots shorter. 

Scores: /10

• Zero-1.9: Flop

• 2.Zero-Three.9: Close to fall

• four.Zero-5.9: Common

• 6.Zero-7.9: Victory

• eight.Zero-10: Champion

Pulse Ranking: /10

eight.Zero – Champion