It’s 2015. Somewhere in Surulere, I just learnt that Faceoff will be released the following year. CHx plays me 2 songs. I want more but CHx refuses. I tease Boogey about his album and he plays me some of the songs off it then tells me each song links to the other song. The album starts off with a lady saying
“having you been writing bars as I prescribed?”
Paybac rephrases her words.
She ends it with “can you show me?” The plan for the album is for the next track to follow to be Show You Something. Unlike the album which is followed by Lemme Know.
I ask Boogey if Burning Bush will make the cut and he says nope and proceeds to tell me how none of the songs released under Aboriginal will be on the album. He is trying to avoid more complications and distance himself from the label. I start to get the vibe that the album originally planned to feature these songs, SAD, hasn’t been released because most of the tracks are ‘Aboriginal’. This one, Nouveau Niveau, will be completely different.
We continue talking and he plays If you knew ft Sojay followed by Liquor Nights which wasn’t named that at the time. He drops cool points about Tay coming through for him.
He explains how Liquor Nights and If You Knew Ft Sojay ties into the album. On If You Knew Ft Sojay, he promised he wouldn’t drink again in a drunken voice, with the sound of alcohol pouring into a glass serving in the background but starts Liquor Nights in a drunken state.
He then jokes around and asks if I know the lady at the end of If You Knew skit was Simi. In that moment, it clicks. I ask him about his song with Simi and he’s uncertain whether their song 1am will make the cut. He explains that the song wasn’t really pushed. Simi’s gaining momentum so that should be a plus for the album, I think.
“No Sanctum?” I ask. Boogey goes ahead and plays me Message to Heaven featuring Jane Sam. He explains that this song was Sanctum before Sanctum.
We drift to talking about artists that folks wanted on a song but didn’t happen. CHx shares tales of his disappointments, Boogey shares his too.
He wanted David Onuoha on a track but that plan went off track. He shrugs it off saying he has a track with Lady Donli. “She sent in her vocals and killed it.”
He plays me Prayers with Aina More and Aina More spazzed.
I ask him to play me more. Unfortunately, his battery goes flat. While explaining the album, he lets me know he’s working on a Volume 2.
We speak of more music. He shares and comments on setbacks. I always was aware of the problems with his label, problems he constantly faced within.
SAD would help lighten that load. “When is the album coming out?” I curiously ask. His response is overshadowed by talk of Faceoff and I forget. He says he is hopeful and sure that the album would push the movement.
SAD didn’t happen after his initial declaration. Hope had started to die down after the hype around Faceoff album was short-lived. Paybac had gone to work on Frank Ocean Type Beats.
Questions replaced the praises. But…where is SAD?
For every question asked, there is a Boogey freestyle waiting to be released to keep the momentum alive.
The future leader of the new school had watched how he was replaced & new cats had taken over.
So here he is now, “Too young to be an OG, too old to fit in the new era”.
An artist who niched a name for himself as an artist of bars and metaphor is now uncertain of which side of the coin he belongs to. He has watched artist’s drop half-arsed bars and get more applause.
He had to go to maximum heights to attain a minimum end result.
Boogey was a lone wolf. He has no manager, no backing, no label.
Will Boogey ever release SAD?
In June 2016, while in Osun NYSC camp, I got a broadcast message from Boogey – “Show You Something available for download”. Despite being frustrated under the steamy Sun, I excitedly download and press play.
I smiled, forwarded the link to my friend and I typed “SAD’s coming soon, that shit will be a classic I promise you.”
SAD didn’t drop and that classic started to share extreme similarities with Detox.
After the rain comes the rainbow
Boogey was on Hennessy cypher. He was easily the best on it, right around the time he dropped a video for Show You Something. Things were starting to work out. Incognito tape dropped soon after.
Boogey got two nominations at the Hip TV Awards. He didn’t win in either category he was nominated in.
He got “Text here, text there, you’d get them next time.” This was sanctum nomination all over again except Toolz’s booty wasn’t around to put a smile on his face.
Less is more
2017 revealed a new Boogey. He no longer rushed to release new material every month. He was more strategic in planning.
Liquor Nights and Solo were released and a new LP was on its way called Nouveau Niveau.
New Level
When asked about SAD and if he renamed it to Nouveau Niveau, he said,
“Didn’t change album title. Scrapped altogether, few songs fit in with this new one. 1am with Simi also dropped under aboriginal so it’s theirs. Few others missing data. So I said fuck it and started afresh.”
I asked if Nouveau was same story plot or different?
He said, “Different everything. Direction too. SAD was gonna be a life story from childhood. This is about a next level and growing past that.”
Which explains the name “Nouveau Niveau”. It means “new Level”.
The topics on the album range from personal to religious to love to society/Nigeria.
The excitement had kicked back in. Now more than ever, I was happy for Boogey. Uncertain of the end result, I hoped it would help him find peace in his inner sanctum. I didn’t pressure him to send me new music as he always did.
It’s hard trying to regain the same level of confidence attained in 2012, Boogey had been kicked to the ground and left with 2 options, ‘quit or try again’.
I’m glad he picked the latter. He kept posting teasers of Nouveau Niveau and the buzz was building.
Boogey’s debut album is finally out. He has been knocked down a thousand times and he has found a thousand and one reasons to try again.
2018 is his new beginning, an opportunity to try again with an album filled with blood, sweat, tears and years of lessons learnt.
Words by Honour
Edited by Cerebrone
For The Music Axle
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