Tag: Single Review: Vincent Bugozi Be Honest

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Vincent Bugozi Shares Earnest and Summery “Be Honest”

Vincent Bugozi is a Tanzanian-born, London-based artist, bandleader and JOVM mainstay. Along with his backing band, Bugozi specializes in a genre-defying and crowd-pleasing take on Afro Pop that meshes elements of of Afrobeat, reggae, Afro-Cuban music and pop among others.

The Tanzanian-born, London-based artist and his backing band aim to combine the sounds of different cultures to connect people through music and an energetic live show — and help bring positivity and unity in a world that desperately needs it. Bugozi and company will be releasing their latest album AFRICAN SEBA! later this year. Inspired by Tanzanian Tinga Tinga art, AFRICAN SEBA! sees the act drawing inspiration from an eclectic array of sources and collaborating with a collection of musicians from the United Kingdom and European Union, while still deeply rooted in the sounds and styles of Africa. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon the “big themes” — love, sorrow and joy. Interestingly enough, the album will be his first multilingual album. 

So far I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:

  • Tinga Tinga,” a breezy, genre-smashing banger featuring skittering dancehall-meet-trap beats, 80s Quiet Storm soul-like saxophone and twinkling keys paired with Bugozi’s plaintive vocals and an infectious, razor sharp hook. Pulling from a variety of sounds and styles across the African Diaspora, the song manages to be a wildly accessible bop that will get a lounge or a club rocking and grooving. 
  • Bossa Nova” is a slickly produced, seamlessly mesh of elements of Afro-pop, reggaeton and Bossa Nova that further cements Bugozi and company’s unerring knack for catchy hooks. 
  • African Fever,” a track that continues a remarkable run of crowd-pleasing bops featuring a production that meshes elements of dancehall, Afropop, Afrobeats and contemporary electro pop paired with a sultry, dance floor rocking groove.

AFRICAN SEBA!‘s fourth and latest single “Be Honest” pairs Bugozi’s plaintive and yearning R&B delivery with paired with a sleek, glitchy club and lounge friendly production featuring skittering beats, wobbling low end and glistening synth arpeggios and the JOVM mainstay’s unerring knack for catching hooks. But underneath the slick, club friendly production is an earnest, lived-in plea to a lover — or love interest — for honesty, before their heart is unnecessarily broken.