THOSE KIDS NEXT DOOR
On their debut mixtape, FOREVATIRED invite you to step into their world for a genre-defying experience that pushes their sound into new and exciting territory.
Although 2020 has been a year of incessant chaos, stress, and anxiety, it has also been a year of incredible artistic output from artists around the world. Nigeria’s music scene continues to thrive on a global scale despite every effort from COVID-19 to put life on pause. FOREVATIRED, the eclectic alternative/rap collective currently based in Lagos have built a cult following through a steady release of demo tapes and singles from 2018 till now. With their debut mixtape THOSE KIDS NEXT DOOR, the collective’s colourful vision feels brighter and bolder than ever. Created in quarantine, the tape is a technicolor walk through the mindset of the collective’s members, displaying both the highs and lows of self-discovery through their unique, genre-melting sound.
The songwriting and futuristic production lend a cinematic feel to the tape as they collide to create a dream-like experience for listeners to get lost in. The beat for FILM TRICK contains synths, lasers, and keys, yet sounds like a heartfelt summery ode to a failed relationship with notorious Nollywood sound bites from Sam Loco Efe located at both ends of the song — a mischievous nod to the band’s Nollywood phase during lockdown. DEVIL FRUIT’s nostalgic production is a bouncy affair reminiscent of a psychedelic trip through Soundcloud’s glory days. Even the opening seconds on WEST use ethereal vocalising to beckon listeners into the band’s world where they are as free as ever, with the collective displaying new levels of artistic growth.
The entire ethos of THOSE KIDS NEXT DOOR and the collective themselves, can be explained in MAGIC, a 27 second interlude resting within the tape’s first half. MAGIC finds rapper ROCKIMONSTA explaining that he’s not interested in making music until he can capture those special moments “like you know, okay that melody is fire” and the song begins to click. This tape contains a multitude of special moments, from Saint Phantom’s raucous drop on STEW to Rookie SBK’s show stopping verse on BLUE alongside an in-form Mafeni. It’s the pursuit of these moments that brings a refreshing and authentic energy to the band’s work, making their future prospects look even more tantalizing.
Love, loss, and heartbreak are recurring themes as the band continues to build upon the emotional honesty from their previous project, Before You Kill Us All while capturing the darker moments of life on lockdown. The claustrophobic Baby Jesus which finds Etienne and Pharaoh describing the chaos around us as “sick shit” and a “world on drugs”. Loneliness, a feeling which many have become too accustomed to during lockdown, is examined on BROKEN and ALONE, with the former showing the flipside to the carefree lifestyle enjoyed by the band, while the latter is brief but poetic portrait of releasing your fears after things have fallen apart.
With 11 different members (7 currently in Lagos with the rest in Abuja), one would think that cohesion would present an issue but even songs with a lone member fit into the overall sound of the mixtape. As a new generation of artists continues to prove that they are both the present and future of a revitalized music scene in Nigeria, THOSE KIDS NEXT DOOR shows why FOREVATIRED are a force to be reckoned with right now. With such a diverse array of talent, and a fundamental understanding of how to build a cohesive sound together, the kids have shown that they’re more than alright.
