Popular gospel music artist, Limoblaze has recently released his “Solid Ground” tape, and it has received a lot of fan praise on the internet. Most of the comments have appreciated the artist’s versatility and range, considering how the MOBO Award winner who’s mostly known to be a singer showed uber-prowess as a rapper on the said project.
Yet beyond rap, Limoblaze goes heavy on experimenting with genres, cultures and sounds from across the globe on Solid Ground. In this piece, we explore the different sonic influences Limoblaze tapped into while creating this fan-favourite tape.
As is typical with him, Limoblaze uses “Solid Ground” as his canvas to paint a picture of God’s relationship with man and his connection to a divine power. From track one to eight, each record tells a unique story about faith, Jesus and Limoblaze’s belief journey thereof.
Across the project, hip hop and rap dominate its sonic make-up. From bars, to flows and rhythm, Limoblaze finds a perfect sweet spot between gospel and rap; confessing his faith while going hard on rap lines.
‘Tinbake’ and ‘Cole Palmer’ are easily products of afrobeats culture, wearing the familiar five-pattern percussion and heavy on the culture’s influences. Although ‘Tinbake’ features a fellow afrobeats gospel singer Greatman Takit, ‘Cole Palmer’ on the other hand has Limoblaze leading America’s Andy Mineo and the UK’s DC3 through the afrobeats rail; a collaboration that has been largely described as iconic since its release.
There’s evidence of Limoblaze influence by afrobeat (without the ‘s’) on “God Did It”. From the blaring trumpets, to the trombone slurs gliding over the minor pentatonic scale, the song begins with a show of what true afrobeat sounds like, before launching into hip hop’s energy burst.
With “Joy”, Limoblaze and Elle Limebear explore feel-good pop music – essentially preaching joy that comes from faith and it sounds like a good soundtrack for a scene where the main character is about to seize their day.
“Super Power” places you in the heart of Rio, Brazil, and you can almost feel the fast cars, warm weather and tall palm trees while listening to this record. The language is African, but the feel is Latin pop.
On “Princeton’s Interlude”, Princeton South and Limoblaze are joined by IBQuake as she recites a poem, performing spoken words over an intriguing trap beat; meeting Princeton on a similar frequency as his melodic rap.
The heavy kicks, beat drop, fast tempo and chants all point towards Deep/Afro/Introspective House when it comes to “Pray”. It seems like a great way to wrap the project as it leaves the listener wanting more.
Sorting through all these influences while listening to the project creates a wholesome experience for every ear that feeds on it. It’s almost impossible to overlook Limoblaze’s experimental effort on Solid Ground.
