REVIEW: Victoria Kimani’s kingdom is almost here

Guest Appearances- Lynxxx, Banky W, Loose
Kaynon, Pryse, Ada, Wyre, Akuse, Prezzo, AY,
Ron Browz, Kyah Baby, Rukus, Shiiikane,
Kimya Bamboo,
Producers- Kid Konnect, Chopstix, Drebeats,
Ron Browz, Wayne, Drocc, White Nerd
Record Label- Chocolate City (2013)
In a bid to expand to conquer the African continent,
Chocolate City opened shop in Kenya and signed
its first non-Nigerian act Victoria Kimani. After a
couple of singles, the East African pop artiste drops
her new mixtape Queen Victoria which can be
regarded as her first showing in the Nigerian
market.
19 tracks long, Queen Victoria is a mixtape which
features Victoria Kimani on both original beats and
borrowed instrumentals. The collection starts with
'Open Your Heart.' Singing on DJ Sbu's 'Lengoma'
Victoria Kimani turns the instrumental into an
emotional pop ballad. It's a nice approach of
flipping one of the hottest instrumentals from
South African House within the last two years. The
track also has a whiff of emo to it.
On 'Forgive Them Father' featuring Ada, Victoria
Kimani borrows Foxy Brown's 2001 single 'Oh
Yeah' featuring Spragga Benz. The Indian singing
is a nice feature on the whole set up of the track.
'Do What You Do' is a breezy summer pop song
featuring Banky W who delivers a few rap bars
that should jumpstart the discussion of his
rumoured all rap mixtape once again.
Victoria Kimani goes the dancehall route on
'Freaks' which jacks French Montana's song of
the same name. 'African Man' featuring Lynxxx is
a lusty crunchy pop song produced by Kid
Konnect. It features a haunting oriental flute and
a surprising element of Victoria Kimani singing
Seyi Sodimu's 1998 hit track 'Love Me Jeje' at the
end. The Choc City queen brushes off a lover who
is asking her for money on the short but
interesting 'My Money'.
Kid Konnect produces a groovy haters' anthem on
'F.U.M.F' featuring Loose Kaynon. The bearded
Loopy Records MC spits 'listen so hating is so
last year/why you so mad cos my sweat shirt is
cashmere' on the track. The crown prince of auto-
tune Ron Browz rears his head on 'Touch Me'. The
track has a theme of lust and has a knocking effect
much to the delight of the listener. Victoria Kimani
gets playful on 'We like to Party' which has the
bassline as Lumidee's 2007 'Never Leave You'.
Victoria Kimani tries her hands on Sean Tizzle's
'Sho Lee' on 'Get Wild' featuring Shiiikane but the
beat is too much for her. It would have been best of
she left it alone. Tracks like 'Own Zone' and 'Girlz'
are disposable tracks with too much sheen and not
enough warmth. This is the major fault line of the
project. There is too much gloss and not enough
heart. Also Victoria Kimani's over reliance on auto-
tune can make the mixtape tiring.
However on 'Heaven' she changes the tone of the
project. On the song she sings 'I need your angel
wings every single night…it's something I can't
explain, your presence cures my pain.' The latter
end of the project follows suit as the artiste
touches on more serious topics on tracks like
'Africa I Love You' and 'Trayvon'.
Overall, Queen Victoria is a promising start from
the pop artiste. She has the look and the vibe. All
she needs is emotional depth.
Rating – 3/5

Sent From David Aniemeka