By Esther Kainebi-Daniel
Reputed for his conscious and relatable afrobeats music that leans into his love for philosophy and religion, Dangbana Republik president, Bella Shmurda has released his anticipated Extensive Playlist (EP) titled DND via his own label in partnership with ONErpm.
The EP which was released on Wednesday, July 26, marks the beginning of a unique new musical world for Bella Shmurda. It is shaped by his frame of mind for the year 2023, and has been described by the singer as his “do not disturb mode”.
The new body of work comes less than a year from the massive success of his acclaimed debut album Hypertension, which garnered over 250 million streams globally.
Bella Shmurda in the EP links up with long-time collaborator and producer LarryLanes on In Charge and Ara to open up the six-track project, before joining forces with Afrobeats queen and self-professed Africa’s original bad girl, Tiwa Savage and producer Krizbeatz on NSV, while afro-pop sensation, Lil Kesh and producer Rewardbeatz come on board for the title track, DND.
The EP closes with a stellar collaboration with the super producer Pheelz on Bankruptcy, and Jojo, which sees Bella Shmurda and ‘street ti take over’ proponent, Olamide working together to write the Eskeez-produced EP curtain call.
Originally created as an avenue to give his teeming fans some new music while he works on his next album, the DND project took on a life of its own to capture Bella’s headspace of “do not disturb” right now.
Commenting on the project, Bella Shmurda said: “There is a lot of good music out there, but I don’t want to be carried away by different trends and different new sounds. Everywhere is saturated, but in the midst of that, I want to remain tuned into my own vibrations.”
“I’m just in that ‘do not disturb’ mood right now, where I want to get myself together, without too many external influences. Self-control is important for my approach to music; so trying to be in my own headspace is key,” he added.
The project opens with the braggadocious In Charge, which sees Bella Shmurda letting listeners know that he is still in charge, doing his own thing, and still the boss of his own, while the joyful dance track Ara sees the singer in a prayerful mood as he thanks God for supporting his ventures and blessing all that he does.
NSV (Non-Stop Vibes) is pure vibe on a track as the title suggests, just as Bankruptcy sees the afrobeats star wax lyrical about spending all his money on his leading lady, with the project drawing the curtain with the infectious track Jojo with its groovy dancehall sensibilities.
Asked how the songs on the EP came together, Bella Shmurda said, “For Ara, my producer LarryLanes came through with a beat he knew I would love, so we just had to make that song, shout out to LarryLanes while for NSV, I went over to Tiwa’s studio to play her a couple of songs, and she loved ‘NSV’. So we created space for her to get on it, and the outcome was amazing.
“With Bankruptcy, Pheelz and I linked up at my studio and we made like three songs that night, and as for making Jojo, Baddo (Olamide) wrote the song out for me, and we made the song together – he is one of the industry’s greatest songwriters, so the song is definitely one I wanted on DND”.
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