Ijele the Traveler

Ijele the Traveler is the fifth studio album by Nigerian musician Flavour. The album was released on 27 June 2017 by 2nite Entertainment, and features guest appearances from Sarkodie, Zoro, Terry Apala, Phyno, Chidinma, and Semah G. Weifur. The production was handled by Masterkraft, Tekno, Young John, Del B, Jaystuntz, Cobhams Asuquo, Illkeyz, Kezyklef, and Flavour himself. Ijele the Traveler follows his fourth studio album Thankful (2014).

Ijele the Traveler incorporates elements of Igbo highlife while drawing on Afropop, reggae, trap, and gospel influences. Igbo masquerade culture, with its Ijele Masquerade, significantly influences the album. The opening track, “Virtuous Woman”, is a guitar ballad in which Flavour describes his ideal partner through both English and Igbo lyrics. The track has been said to be reminiscent of past songs "Ada Ada" and "Golibe".^[1] "Baby Na Yoka" combines reggaeton with highlife, while “Sake of Love” features Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie over a mid-tempo Afropop beat built on drums and guitar riffs.^[2] The Tekno-produced "Catch You" is a mid-tempo song with piano, guitar, and drum patterns that includes a reference to Fela Kuti's "Lady". The Phyno-produced "Loose Guard" contains playful food metaphors over a flute-led beat by Young John.^[3] The title track, "Ijele", with Zoro, incorporates folk elements such as ọjà playing and popular Igbo chants. Other tracks explore different sounds: "Body Calling" uses a trap-influenced EDM production and features Terry Apala, "Ukwu Nwata" retains highlife guitar riffs and Afro drum samples, and "Chimamanda" adapts gospel choruses into a praise song. The closing track, "Most High", features Semah G. Weifur, Flavour's adoptive son, on a soft-rock inspired duet recorded after the two met in Monrovia.^[2][4]

Wilfred Okiche found the album as a record where Flavour leaned on highlife roots and recycled ideas, but too often diluted his sound to please everyone. He concluded, "On Ijele the Traveler, Flavour is on a journey all right, but it is one that does not lead anywhere just yet."^[1] On the contrary, Jim Donnett of tooXclusive praised Ijele the Traveler for Flavour's consistency, dance-driven highlife sound, and strong collaborations, while noting some weaker tracks and thematic disconnects. He concluded, “Basically, hearing Flavour on this new album as he weighs in elements from the basics that formed his musical purpose, is such a basking joy" and gave it a 3.5/5.^[5] Pulse Nigeria's Joey Akan saw Ijele the Traveler as a record where Flavour stuck to his familiar highlife formula, blending folk, romance, and mainstream influences with only slight progression. He concluded, "This latest effort might represent a small progression, but it’s far from an evolution", and rated it a 3.5/5.^[2]

Notes

• "—" denotes a skit