Zainab Olamide Dunmoye: A Review of Adekunle Gold’s New Album ‘About 30’

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Adekunle Gold. So I am going to try my possible best to be as unbiased as possible in giving this review. Before going to each song in the album, let me talk about the album generally.

About 30 is an album we all had to wait for such a long time. Our dear AG kept postponing its release date but when it was eventually ready, the way it was released was absolutely amazing. Being part of the About30 clan made everything so personal, it was literary like we were being carried along on his amazing ride, from receiving the song list ahead of the release date, being able to RSVP for his listening exhibition at upbeat centre which I unfortunately couldn’t attend and just the general updates before the release date of the album. What a way to release an album!

This album in my opinion showed a lot of growth in AG’s music. Each song is different and is indeed a masterpiece; he listened to his fans and switched things up a bit. Among all 16 songs, 3 were already released as singles, that is, Call on me, Money and Ire so I will not be talking about them.

For this review, I will be starting with my favourite song on the album, Somebody. This particular song is so well written and has a lot of content; the chorus is everything a girl wants to hear her significant other tell her. As girls whether or not we admit it we sometimes feel insecure about our looks, our style, whether we are doing enough or too little and when someone assures you that although there are pretty girls out there, in his eyes you are the prettiest, in my opinion is a very genuine compliment.

In the world we live in today, every one strives for perfection and this is impossible and then AG says perfection isn’t needed, you’re just enough for him, that’s not all! He doesn’t need you to be flawless either, why? He has found perfection in you being yourself. He is also truthful in the first verse where he accepts that being distracted is very easy. Listening to this song just gives me the chills, and I will definitely love for someone to serenade me with it! And oh I loved the song even more when I found out Simi helped write it, how cute!

On this album, unlike his “Gold” album where he featured only Simi, he features 4 different artists on the tracks Down with You, Yoyo, Mr. Foolish and There is a God. Among these songs which he featured other artists, my personal favourite is Down with You. First of all, who is DYO?! And why is this the first time I’m hearing her sing? She starts the song with very powerful and soothing vocals that just makes you want to hear more, and AG himself comes and takes us away. Well we’ll keep focusing on him because that’s all he wants us to do!

Yoyo, featuring Flavour is another good song which AG uses to give us a blend of Yoruba and Igbo in one song. Mr. Foolish featuring Seun Kuti is used to illustrate how “foolish” we as humans can be.

Now, the song titled There is a God featuring LCGC is an amazing, soul uplifting song. I’m not looking at the world from 24,000 feet above sea level, but the beauty from down here also makes me wonder why anyone will doubt that there’s a God.

Also on the album are the songs Remember, Mama, Back to start and Pablo Alakori</emi. Remember is a song that just gives hope, telling you that you’re capable of making it on your own. Do not let anyone humiliate you in the name of helping. As was rightly said by AG, your life will move without them and the Grace of God is all over, they can’t stop you!

Mama is one of my favourites. It’s a lovely song dedicated to all mothers out there. I sent it to my mum and she loved it! And it is definitely going to be the song for the mother-daughter dance at my wedding.

Back to Start is a song that AG uses to reminisce about the past. Of course AG and I were born in different times, because the only game I know is police and thief! But irrespective it’s just a fun song and I will take up his offer on finding a day to those things over again.’ Pablo Alakori, a song inspired by Pablo Ayodeji, also known as “keep the change bae”. AG simply tells us that cutting corners is no way to get things done.

We’re all used to AG singing love songs, but with Damn Delilah, he switched things up. In this song he talks about love gone sour. We all know the story of Delilah, thus the name of the song paints a picture of the kind woman AG is talking about in the song.

Finally, I’ll talk about the last two songs: Surrender and Fame. I put these two together not because they are similar, but because I came to the realisation that in both songs AG did not speak Yoruba! This is very unusual of him and irrespective of this, they are nice songs and this further brings home my point about AG’s growth in music.

About 30 is indeed an amazing album and I encourage anyone and everyone to listen to it.