On his début album, Street Ambassador, Small Doctor popularly known as Akeweje Oganla infused elements of Hip Hop and the free spirit movement of palm wine drinkers; he improves on that template overcoming the sophomore curse. Omo Iya Teacher sees him grow musically and artistically as direction becomes clearer and lyrics sharper than previous outing. On this project, there are less freestyles- he writes more verses than taking to the off-the-dome style; no love songs, no remix and R&B version of the same song; overindulgence and youthful exuberance vanish and in their place are wittier lines intertwined with nuanced statements. Unlike the lengthy 18-track Street Ambassador we have a precise 12-track album which could be taken for 11 songs as the intro doubles as the outro. Also, Small Doctor’s habit of reusing his catchy lines all over Street Ambassador fades on his sophomore project.
Hip-hop experimentation lined his début album and he does well to repeat that winning formula. Instead of the up and coming Young Legxy rapping, he recruits experienced Seriki and the animated femcee Mz Kiss; hip-hop beats are still present, retaining 2TBoiz and Dre San behind the boards. While he expands his sound to accommodate EDM, urban, gospel and kegite tunes provided by Jay Pizzle, Wilfresh, Jaymoh, Omo Ola and DJ Real. Born Temitope Adekunle, Akeweje Oganla loosely translated as a child-friendly Oganla (Oganla, Fuji legend Pasuma’s alias), crowned by Oganla himself lives up to that sobriquet. Recall that Pasuma was the first fuji act to feature on a hit Rap record in the ‘90s. The Orobokibo Master could be said to have contributed to the rise of hip-hop in Nigeria following the success of Remedies’ Jealousy then hopping on songs by Hip Hop pioneers Eedris Abdulkareem, Sound Sultan, Olu Maintain, RoofTop MCs and Lord of Ajasa. Though Fuji artistes like Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall had been rapping on Fuji records since the ‘80s, it wasn’t a cool trend till Oganla made it.
Keeping to that Oganla philosophy for what some call Fuji-Hop/Contemporary Fuji, Small Doctor makes records that sit well in fuji, afro-pop and hip-hop, even rapping on Amuludun. The aforementioned song has Small Doctor praise himself, taking up another alias of City Entertainer- Amuludun. Ill Bliss’ protégé, Mz Kiss offers exciting lyrics to the mid-tempo record. Akeweje’s transformation is interesting for an artiste who used to sleep in buses after the day’s work to earning an Okada rider’s wage to “balling and flexing”. Track two (Story) on Street Ambassador was more rags while track two (Amuludun) on Omo Iya Teacher tells a different tale of riches. He credits a supernatural force for the change in his life reading out the Lord’s Prayer and Elijah’s Prayer in a South-Western charismatic tone on the preceding track, God the Boss.
Another influence, his mother, gets an ode on the titular track Omo Iya Teacher strategically positioned at the middle of the album, similar to Iya Teacher on his début. However, Omo Iya Teacher is a departure from the pop leaning of the first rendition, preferring a Fuji production for the second offering. The second offering is more emotive infusing enjoyable twists with the back-up singers adding live to the conversation—an adoption of a call and response style works brilliantly. Interestingly, Small Doctor sounds more like Akeweje Obanla (Saheed Osupa’s follower) than Akeweje Oganla (Pasuma’s follower) on this track.
When Small Doctor crossovers to Kegite tunes/Neo-Highlife, Gyration and Uzobu are the results. Igbo rhythms and war chants open the latter before Small Doctor goes on praise singing akin to his mentor, Pasuma. Namedropping some street kings right after he uses his “ole fi waso pe Paso—alaye ti wa lat’aye Talazo” homage to his mentor, and war chants popularized by Enyimba FC fans. The former, a typical gyration tune for palm wine groove raises the tempo for the You Know.
Forget boyish looks, Small Doctor understands the workings of the streets not merely in his teardrop tattoo or throwing hand signs on album covers, more in crafting songs for outsiders to understand his ghetto. And this he does smoothly on You Know, making a veteran Olamide sound like a backup singer running ad-libs. Baddo had to turn to a Pasuma Wonder song to retain the track’s cadence. Fuji adherents reckon Kunle Poly as Oganla’s pal so it’s not out of place for Akeweje Oganla to sing his praises on Ile Ijo. On Say Baba, partner in crime Dre San delivers an EDM beat for Small Doctor to work his miracle.
To wrap up the musical experience, the “Ain” creator calls the one adept at trance-inducing songs, QDot, for what some may call an Ibadan reunion- reference to their shared heritage. Eleda Mi, translated as My Creator has the two artistes in religious mode ending an album that started with prayers with benediction.
Source: Naij.