Tiwa Savage Dazzles with “Water & Garri” EP
Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage released a new EP “Water & Garri” featuring appearances from Amaarae, Nas, Brandi, Rich King, and Tay Iwar. Tiwa blends African music and 90s R&B and electronic music to craft a captivating, and danceable listening experience.
At its core “Water & Garri” is about love and its various flavors ranging from loving another to loving oneself. The track “Work Fada” featuring Nas and Rich King shows not only the motif of tough love but also Tiwa’s skill in creating imagery through her lyrics. In the song, Tiwa chastises a lazy man who spends his time lying around eating chips, playing FIFA, and criticizing men who work. She asserts that he can do anything if he works hard enough, including taking his “crew” to higher places.
The song “Ade Ori” is also a standout track from a lyrical standpoint. She sings about how she feels secure in her ability to make herself happy and that she doesn’t need anyone (except God) or anything to do so (I don’t need to smoke a j to make myself smile again”). She also doesn’t want to take on someone else’s pain, which would disturb her peace. The “you no go let stain touch me” refrain is emblematic of that. It also relates back to the album cover which features Tiwa in an all-white dress framed against a white granite background. The picture is devoid of any blemishes or impurities, it’s a completely pure scene.
The guest features all gave great contributions and they stuck to the theme. Amaarae and Tiwa mesh together particularly well on the track “Tales by Moonlight.”
The instrumentals are excellent. The beats always have elements of Afrobeats music included such as tight, rhythmic drumming and swelling, high pitched group vocals. Each track has its own blend of another genre of music such as 90s R&B on the tracks “Somebody’s Son” and “Special Kinda” or electronic music on “Ade Ori” and “Tales By Moonlight.”
Tiwa Savage has created a very danceable and well-structured collection of songs on “Water & Garri.”
Stream Water & Garri HERE