Ayodele's 'I Am Yours': Soulfully Inspiring

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I was at a colleague’s desk when I saw this music album lying on one corner of his desk. My curiosity got the better of me and I had to borrow it from him to listen to it. I wanted to see what the face printed on its sleeve was capable of belting out. Trust me for being the music critic. I wanted to see if another new Naija musician had added to the quagmire of crap already playing on air.

I listened to the album and was stupefied.

This lady was GOOOD!

Her name is simply Ayodele and her music is in the gospel genre.

Now I’ve always categorized gospel music into the meaningfully spiritual and the commercially crapped categories. Ayodele’s Album ‘I Am Yours’ falls into the Meaningfully Spiritual category. I was so thrilled listening to her songs that I had to load them on my phone to listen to while strolling home from work.

Ayodele’s type of music is Soul and what amazes me is the way she waxes indigenous lyrics with the genre. She immediately reminded me of Modele, another female gospel artiste who seemed to be off the radar since her last album. But Ayodele is clearly differentiable.

Nigerian Gospel artistes that sing in the soul genre are rare; the only popular ones being Modele and T.Y Bello. Ayodele brings another flavor into this category.

Everything about this album was just on key; the lyrics, the sound engineering, the arrangement and sequencing of instrumentation all topped by Ayodele’s powerful soulful voice. Her singing pulls at the strings of your heart such that I could only arrive at an obvious conclusion – she is not just talented but most definitely anointed to sing. The lyrics of her songs actually minister to you and not just pass by your ears like a number of pointless so-called gospel songs out there; the tracks that worship are pure, selfless and you could feel the spirit and anointing in the delivery.

That’s what strikes me about Ayodele’s singing – her voice is subtle yet powerful, piercing yet humble.

The Album is a 10 tracker. It’s actually hard saying which is my favorite among the tracks because each time I listen to the album, I’m forced to change my mind again and again (a similar occurrence that happened with Lara George’s ‘Higher’ Album). 

However, I had to make one of the tracks my present ringtone because I just loved the way she sang that song. The song on my ringtone is titled ‘Shilekun’ which is a song that actually beckons to people to open up their hearts to Christ. The Album was produced by Cobhams Asuquo and Flo.

The Album was released last year November and is still very fresh. I’m hoping I hear a lot of it on air because Ayodele is one gifted singer that you just can’t ignore. In an industry that has been saturated with copycats and profaned gospel music, Ayodele's ‘I Am Yours’ is a breath of fresh air and definitely worth having in your collection.