Music  

In The Algorithm, Show Dem Camp Documents Pains Of 2020

By Chinonso Ihekire

31 July 2021   |   3:04 am

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When Show Dem Camp dropped the Clone Wars IV: These Buhari Times, in 2019, the mental pictures they created were not just vivid, but scary.

Show Dem Camp

When Show Dem Camp dropped the Clone Wars IV: These Buhari Times, in 2019, the mental pictures they created were not just vivid, but scary.

“The clone wars series are time capsules/future generation mementoes,” Olumide Ayeni, also known as Ghost, describes the project.

The indie hip-hop duo comprising Ghost and Wale Davies, also known as Tec, have been using the Clone Wars series to document the realities of the country, which sadly have been broiled in crisis since the duo dropped the first recording in 2010.

Now, the versatile rap mavericks have extended the clone wars legacy for the fifth time with their latest recording dubbed, Clone Wars V: The Algorythm. This intriguing 15-track project is not just a melting pot of witty bars, vibrant flows, and exciting melodies, it is also a memoir of the gory realities of 2020 with special emphasis on the EndSARS protests and Lekki Toll Gate events.

“20-10-20 the day my heart turned as black as Christ/I still hear the screams in my dreams/they tyrannize each time then wonder when the oppressed want an eye for an eye/boldfaced soldiers sent to tollgate/children, siblings lost and in such a cold way/oke could have been somebody’s soulmate,” Ghost raps on the track, Ghost Rant, making a commentary on the Lekki Toll Gate shooting.

The duo continues this intriguing musical protest in other songs on the project. On the song titled, Streets, Ghost continues “A revolution is here at long last/ Rest in power to all fallen comrades/to tell the world the truth our one task/We won’t stop until the killers are unmasked/Detective Fash we saw the guns blast/Keep on fighting when we get em by the ropes/Knock em out with a PVC and a vote/It doesn’t take a data analyst to know that they are gonna try to change the narrative/They might use the raiding of the palliatives/ Or tribalism to induce paralysis.”

Interestingly, they also make a commentary on the rape crisis that surged in 2020, recalling the gruesome rape of multiple teenagers which made headlines last year.

“I was taught church is a haven and it’s supposed to be safe/ Shame on us/ fellow man the blame is on us/We keep raising cowards that can’t contain raw lust/ What if the tables turned and these animals preyed on us?/That girl was 16/ Innocent child probably had big dreams,” Ghost raps on the song, Human.

“I am hoping my generation will be the change/Because our elders came and talked a good game/ But they all have failed/So from my little corner, I shall vent/Speak power to the truth and pray I don’t relent/ We need to do it now; no more sitting on the fence/ We need to realize our queens are really our greatest strength,” Tec wittingly raps on the same song.

These words encapsulate the vibrant manifesto that this entire album professes.

It is interesting that more young Nigerian musicians are now starting to toe the line of conscious music, joining efforts from other young acts such as Brymo, Made Kuti, Burna Boy, among others.

While The Algorithm is a succinctly self-spoken masterpiece, its brightest flowers lay in its songwriting which blooms with sage and rare intentionality. Ordinarily, people do not like to remind about their problems, but when Show Dem Camp gets in a recording booth, they could leave you embracing these fears in a more optimistic way.

The album remains an evergreen record, which scores As on all fronts – from tracklisting to features, sound production, lyricism, content direction, and others. It is near impossible to fault this body of work, but well the taste of the pudding is in the eating. The Algorythm is out on all digital streaming platforms.