“Contemporary R&B: Boistory’s Captivating Rendition of Afrobeats”

Blending contemporary R&B with funk, soul, jazz, high life, and alternative afrobeat sounds. The break-out Ghanaian-Nigerian artist explores new sounds. 

boistory - contemporary r&B and afrobeats artistUndoubtedly, music offers a unique kind of freedom and flexibility that appeals to both emerging and established artists. Many emerging acts are defying conventions and becoming more experimental with their musical expression, moving away from the limitations of any particular genre.

Thereby fueling the urge to ditch the antiquated music genre classification while simultaneously taking on diverse genres and indented subgenres to verbalize emotions and convey images of the intangible aspects of human creativity.

It is against this backdrop, Boistory describes his music as soulful and experimental. Genre  versatility to him involves collecting  and combining  various genres, just like the  “Thanos Infinity Gauntlet.” The twist is the combination and harmonization of mixed genres become an ultimate superpower to preserve his distinct storytelling technique.

Ozor Agyare is professionally known as “Boistory.” His sound comes off as the perfect cross of Tems, Brent Faiyaz, and Nonso Amadi, with a personal flair to own his originality and distinctiveness. His musical style is a combination of Contemporary R&B and Alternative Afrobeats. In addition, he regularly dabbles by including elements of highlife, Funk, Jazz, and Occasional Neo-Psychedelic Sounds.

The eponymous contemporary R&B Ep “Boistory” comes off as a strong 8-track debut with no features. The title suggests that its an introduction to the sound and genre preference of the artist. It’s his way of introducing his sound preference to the general public, hoping it resonates with many.

boistory
Styled and shot by @nana_poley

Prior to the release of the Ep. An upload on Boistory’s Youtube captures a video of him classifying his music as explorative yet fluid enough to take on elements of other sounds like new age afrobeat sounds and Soul. R&B music.

The first track, “Gurrl,”  the song touches on rekindling an old love over a slow-paced, sensual soft energy. This intro is perfect for anyone listening to Boistory for the first time, leaving you yearning to listen till the end.“Stress” leans more into the R&B mixed with the Afro-Pop style. Deducing from the lyrics, he speaks about seeking peace of mind away from the stress and complexities of his anonymous lover. The Lyrics,” Give me a reason to cut you off.” “So don’t stress me; I really don’t want stress.”  This different approach leans farther away from the tone set on “Gurrl. ”“Bebe” has a certain Je ne sais quoi to it. It might be the smooth inclusion of jazz, soulfully paired with highlife. Evidently, the New-Gen Alternative Afrobeats combination stands out immensely.

 

Stand-out song and Verse:

He employs the use of Nigerian Pidgin / Creole  Lingo in his music. In addition, making it easier for him to connect with his audience better. Especially for the natives in the regions this language is spoken.

Each track is packed and sealed with its individuality and, most importantly, its unique flair and aesthetic. Boistory accomplishes this mission by taking on each track and, most importantly, concluding before going to the next. Subsequently, The cycle continues for the other songs. Similarly, The same goes for the verses; a couple of lyrics stand out on each track. On the song “Rainmaker,” it’s “I have more sully’s than Dushane’s… In the last verse, he says, “I make this Music till I Die, I make this music for my life, True  Shit.”

For Instance, on the track “Stress”, the Second verse hits deeply for reasons affiliated with the intricacies and entanglements of adulthood.  He sings, “Baby, don’t get the time to move crazy. I got bills, and my balance needs raising.”

In Conclusion Boistory; steps out as an unconventional artist not feined by the tags and labels that come with the music industry.

Speeding up with TikTok: the Sped up song versions

 I want to dedicate this note to a new trend in the musical field: the Sped up song version, which basically consists of increasing the speed of a song to 150%. This practice was generated on TikTok thanks to contributions from anonymous users. They would tune the song to the new style and make it freely available for others to upload with their own videos or choreographies. Regardless of whether Sped up song versions are considered a valuable artistic product or not, the truth is that originally, this was a community and anti-capitalist movement. This is because TikTok users who made their own versions posted them on the networks for free circulation and did not obtain financial benefit from it. To this, we should add a huge number of tutorials with tricks to make your own accelerated version that can be seen on various platforms like YouTube.

 

The side effects of Sped up song

The trend of Sped up song versions has contributed not only to generating new hits but, paradoxically, has helped turn relatively recent pop songs into unexpected super hits, even if they initially weren’t.  This is the case, for example, of Sure Thing, by the American R’n’B singer Miguel (original from 2010), Die For You, by The Weeknd (from 2016), Cool For The Summer, by Demi Lovato (2015), Sway, by Michael Bublé (2003) or Say it Right, by Nelly Furtado (2006).

In all these cases, the exponential increase in clicks has been so overwhelming that the artists themselves have succumbed to the trend and started to publish these versions officially. TikTok content with the #spedup hashtag already has 10 billion views, and, according to data published by the US magazine Billboard, 80 of the 100 most listened-to songs on that social network have an altered tempo. The phenomenon has already spread in such a way that Spotify has even created an official playlist of Sped up song versions, which exceeds a million likes and includes songs by superstars such as Madonna and Rihanna.

 

A generation Z movement

The rise of this practice confirms that TikTok users, mostly composed of generation Z individuals, are no longer satisfied with being mere passive spectators. “Fans come to our platform not so much to enjoy the music, but to express themselves creatively and connect with each other through it, and with their favorite artists. Fans here have the chance to participate in the musical creation process”, says Soraya Castellanos, head of TikTok Content, Community, and Associations in Spain and Portugal. “Within our community of users, a movement is generated, an impressive wave of inspiration, which invites collaboration and enrichment of the content. People riff on ideas, take full advantage of our effects, and use sounds that someone has created on the other side of the world,” she adds.

Although speeding up a song by itself doesn’t have much merit, there is no creative decision beyond that tempo change, it is possible to build on that idea to introduce other new elements. Surely faster songs will also be made and heard due to this trend started by the Sped up song versions. In this sense, TikTok users are the true generators of a trend and the music market adjusts to it.