FOLA – What a Feeling (Album Review)

Little is known about this new emerging artist FOLA, but if you listen to his songs, you will surely remember them. “What a Feeling” is his first album, released just last year, and also his latest discography.

FOLA (real name Folarin) is an emerging artist from Nigeria. Enriched by the diverse music culture around him, his songs blend traditional African rhythm with modern beats, creating a sound deeply rooted in his cultural heritage.

This new album “What a Feeling” is a typical example of his own style of music: African rhythms joined with R&B beats, with a soothing, but almost Hip-Hop like vocal line, sometimes putting in some Yoruba words, giving a slight nod to his cultural roots.

The first song is “Who Does That”, which starts with a short intro with a few sound effects of him vocalising and an Afro drum beat. Then he starts singing in a middle-low register with a very soothing voice. You notice that because of his voice, his songs just sound very dreamy, which is his other trait.

The second song “alone” is his hit song, which focuses on the topic of heartbreak. Unlike the previous song, the intro only has a Bassline and his vocalising, which sounds a bit like Hip-Hop. Then comes the drum beat, which, again, is still Afro. The third song is “tonight”, which is about falling in love. The fourth song “mandela” is in a livelier mood, with a single drumbeat running through the whole song. There is even a part where only the drum beat and FOLA’s voice remains, which sounds very African-like.

The fifth song “bye bye” is in a style that is very Hip-Hop-like, and constantly repeats the verse “Bye bye, say bye bye”. The sixth song (and last) is another version of his hit song “alone”, this time featuring another artist BhadBoi OML.

This album is great, but it has a few problems: firstly, the songs’ styles are too similar or dreamy, causing the listeners to be sleepy. The second problem is, based on my opinion, using too much auto-tune, but that shouldn’t be a big problem, because a lot of people use it also.

SCORE/Excellent: If you are looking for dreamy songs with Afro beats, don’t miss out on this album by FOLA.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

Follow FOLA on instagram