In as much as the album is saturated with feel-good music, the predominant undercurrent of the entire composition of the 17 tracks is an empathetic celebration of success, achievement, and that tenacious African drive and unyielding ambition. Coming from a young artiste who took an 18-month detour from his burgeoning platinum music career to obtain a Masters Degree in Energy Economics from Dundee University in Scotland, one may begin to understand the inspiration behind some of the break-out hits from the album – Ten over Ten, Ako mi ti Poju, and Share My Blessings.

Traditionally, hip hop has been used as a vehicle for the young and successful black man who beat the odds of the street to ‘brag’ about his circumstances, but then even as this album may on the surface seem like Naeto C’s lyrics are overdosing on some groovy braggadocio-enhancing steroids – an assertion of his bragging rights, a closer look would reveal a conscious but subtle effort on his part to encourage young people with dreams to surmount the seeming obstacles in their path, drawing analogies from his personal experience. This theory is evident in tracks like Carry Ur Shoulder, C Me Finish, and Gidi is Mine.

 

Super C Season –  if we’re to examine the salient superhero analogy inherent in this title – does not to say or claim that Naeto C is a not-too-distant cousin of Clark Kent – you know the Kryptonian who transforms into Superman to save the world – but to simply point out that there’s a superhero element in all of us – that those tiny little details we overlook actually qualify us as superheroes – the student reading for his degree exams under the pale glow of a candle light because of our erratic power supply – little things that at first don’t seem to matter until you cast them under the microscope of comparison with the amenities enjoyed by your contemporaries who still end up not performing as well as you did despite all the odds against you.

 

“Person wey wear white no suppose dey fight mechanic… I need my own space cos my brain is in another planet”

The above-mentioned line from the title track speaks volume of what one is to expect from the album. And speaking of the title track – Naeto C goes hard in a surprisingly and uncharacteristic manner to deliver what many agree should be dubbed the most amazing opening track on any hip hop album in recent times – he gets livid with this lyrical outburst like his sabbatical from the scene left him gluttonous for a new kind of respect, which he should decidedly get from any hip-hop head who knows the difference between Ice Cube and Ice T – in fact, he should get the respect of any hip-hop head who’s well aware that you don’t have to wear gloves to throw a very effective punch line.

 

Celebrating with attitude

Continuing from the first track (Super C Season) up until the sixth track ( Skimpololo, featuring Terry G), Naeto C takes the I-feel-good-about-myself genre of rap up another notch, blending deep lyrics with bouncy beats, and seductive hooks. “…what’s a chicken to an Eagle when they rarely ever fly?” another solid one-liner from the track True, which reinforces the suspicion that Naeto C may be abandoning his cute sweet-heart personae to embrace his inner beautiful dark side –  a reinvented personae he goes ahead to undress in the track Ako mi ti Poju, featuring Da Grin.

 

Reflecting with passion

You get the feeling you’ve been served an elixir of gratitude and loss when you listen from tracks 7 (Duro) to 13 (Voodoo).  You become subconsciously aware that Naeto C is actively reflecting on some great moments of his life – of things he’s thankful for, and those he’s equally sorry for; of things he longs for, and of persons or things he’d lost. It’s not a surprise that such tracks as Ten over Ten, Share My Blessings with Asa, and Afuru m gi n’anya with Waje can be found in this cycle of reflective medleys.

 

Confronting the emotions

From track 14 (C me Finish) to track 17 (Gidi is Mine), Naeto confronts his suppressed fears, desires, and concerns.  Collaborating with Sway on the track Ride with Me, spewing forth punch lines like “…this ain’t no breakfast at Tiffany’s but she can have Tiffany’s for breakfast” and “Naeto Super C, they cannot maneuver me, they can’t cut me down to size, they can’t mini cooper me…”, the young rapper goes ahead to reveal his lyrical depth and maturity – being the “only emcee with an Msc…”, Naeto’s musicianship may have equally benefitted from his academic panache.

 

That said. I doubt that soon to come there’ll be a hip hop album strong enough to cut Super C Season down to size. And it may be a while before any emcee can find the bars to mini cooper Naeto C’s musical and personal accomplishments.

 

–James Amuta

 © 2012 Storm 360 Degrees – The Entertainment Company – Storm Records. All rights reserved.