Unilag Feels Like A True Life Story
By Ezekiel Okpuzor
If you’re a Nigerian, you’ve probably heard a lot about the University of Lagos, UNILAG. Whatever you know about the place may or may not be true, but one thing that is certain is that it is a place with many iconic stories; a lot of which are worthy enough to make songs about.
That’s the route that producer and songwriter Iferin decided to take, collaborating with Emperornil to create the song “Unilag”. Their combined musical perspectives makes this song an interesting one for a myriad of reasons, one of which is the way the story progresses, as Emperornil describes an unfavorable end to a promising story.
Iferin’s songwriting skills come to the fore here. The subject matter of the song feels more engaging due to the closeness to reality it possesses. You keep listening with a gnawing feeling that it is a true story, that the words coming out of the song came from a recent experience.
While that may not be the case, it is a measure of the vivid pictures that Emperornil paints with Iferin’s help. Songwriting is at its best when it expresses ideas and pictures in a concise and engaging manner. The duo achieve this to great effect, translating the sonics into words.
Sonically, “Unilag” is decently constructed. One of Iferin’s strengths as a producer is her ability to turn on sensations within the listener, compelling them to feel a certain way using specific elements and chord progressions. While this record won’t count as emotional, it does dovetail well with the words spoken over it.
The gentle bounce reminds the listener of simpler times, as university is usually a place where people find themselves safe from the cares of the world. Iferin adeptly transmutes this feeling into sound through this composition that runs at 106BPM on the F# key.
Emperornil puts forward an interesting performance too. He doesn’t complicate himself much with delivery, confidently relaying his lyrics in simple melodies over Iferin’s production. The simple lyrics, put together by himself and Iferin, do well to keep the listener engaged for what happens next in this short story. Emperornil uses his voice tonality to express his emotions to good effect, while laying the background vocals in a heightened pitch “baby voice”. All the elements come together to form a convincing performance by the talented duo.
Some parts of the song leave more to be desired, however, which is mainly the sound engineering. Emperornil’s vocals could’ve sounded more crisp, however it doesn’t take away from the quality of the content within the song. Iferin’s work on the song does well to elevate it, making “Unilag” a good measure of her talent and how far she’s come to get to this point.
The news of her work continues to spread within the underground scene of Afrobeats, and with her work ethic it will not take long before she’s heralded as an impactful force within the music industry. Iferin’s multi-talented outlook will place her amongst the best of her generation.
