She says the only thing she’s ever heard that reminds her of Bambi is The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

My only reference point was Harry Belafonte calypso but my wife says that’s not right. Trampoline would easily be the best song on The Chief if Bambi didn’t come next. She might even have a wedding ring or a doctorate in medicine or the daughter of the reverend or the daughter of the president!(Trampoline)” Usually, banging pop anthems about women are condescending at their best but Jidenna doesn’t function like other people and definitely doesn’t care for expectations. Example, “Anyone who works hard as you got the right to get lit. Trampoline you’ll never get out of your head and the rewarding thing about it is that it takes the shape of a traditional slut shaming anthem while being the absolute opposite. The beat absolutely tramples and then it leads into the biggest pop hit on the album. It is a straight ahead rap banger with punch lines to spare. Two is called Chief Don’t Run and features Roman GianArthur on the hook. The unignorably brilliant stuff begins going through tracks two, three, and four. Adaora moves like Salsa but maintains the precious emotional center a Nat King Cole song has. The difference is this dude is the son of a Nigerian scientist, his knowledge of African sonic textures gives him a totally different base he sings from. If I say that this is one of those threats that can sing and rap you’ll rightly say…that’s a lot of people. This is the flexing your muscles album (less Good Kid Maad City more Section 80). This is not a walk through a specific story that gets you to know the narrator.

I had no reference point for dude but I stored that moment in my head and when his new album The Chief dropped it was at the top of my list to check out. I don’t listen to the radio at all so I had heard Classic Man once and moved on. My wife looked at me and said “That guy is GOOD.” All I could do was shrug. One of the show stopping performances was Jidenna who absolutely tore it down. The Netflix series Luke Cage did a fantastic job maximizing the musical environment it presented.

Jidenna the chief album listen