Since her debut single “How To Kill A Man” dropped late last year, Bloody Civilian has been on a progressive journey in the music industry within and beyond the shores of Nigeria. Her creativity continues to pave the way for her and the world to see how much talent she embodies. Earlier in the year, I added her to my list of artists to look out for this year. (See here)
Before releasing her debut EP, Anger Management, she also produced the track Wake Up, which featured Rema and was included on the Black Panther Wakanda Forever soundtrack. In celebration of the film and West African music, Bloody Civilian was also heavily included in the Disney+ documentary Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever.
Bloody Civilian not only embodies her creativity with graceful grandeur but also poses a triple threat in the industry as a singer, songwriter, and producer. On the 8th of June 2023, she released her debut EP, Anger Management (Read review here), a laudable project that showed her versatility as a creative. Bloody Civilian then went on to be one of the nominees for the Rookie of the Year at the Headies Awards 2023. She is also currently signed to Def Jam Recordings.
Anger Management: At Least We Tried
On the 10th of November 2023, Bloody Civilian released the remix of her EP Anger Management: At LEasT wE tRIED through 0207 Def Jam. She released the lead singles, “I Don’t Like You” featuring JELEEL! and Candy Bleakz, “Mad Apology” featuring Odumodublvck, and “Escapism” featuring Fave and Tay Iwar a day prior.
An entire project remix is not something I think I have come across in the Nigerian music scene. A deluxe of a project, yes. A remix of a select number of songs off a project? Yes. Bloody Civilian maintained the same track titles and production, with a few tweaks here and there to accommodate the featured artists.
Should’ve smoked that shit this morning, but my ancestors are watching…
Bloody Civilian
On “Escapism”, Fave shines brightly with her unmistakable vocals, delivering a beautiful verse. “Escapism” talks about floating above reality through certain vices. In this case, smoking Tay Iwar never fails to come through with his magic pen and vocals. The cohesion of the three artists on this is applaudable because the message feels much better conveyed.
Bloody Civilian recruits the latest activated Mavin rapper, Lifesize Teddy, and Algerian-British sensation Miraa May on “How to Kill a Man.”. You need to pay attention to Miraa’s verse because what in the name of Harley Quinn is going on here? Lifesize finishes it off with her aggressive bars and intentions to make a certain young, erring man disappear. Again, this is a perfect feature and Lifesize’s verse hit as hard as Tyson on this one.
“Family meeting” will definitely be the wayward child’s anthem. I am sure Joeboy had been waiting for an opportunity like this. He wasted no time in calling out monitoring spirits and lifestyle dictators. We all see and have them around us. From family members to nosy neighbors to those who always lurk around to comment on what you do. Majeeed also blesses the track with his call out of hypocrites and best in holiness peeps.
“Mad Apology”, a track dedicated to “losers” is about the guy who got a chance but messed up. I expected this track to have a female feature, to further drive home the message. Also, “I don’t like you”, feels less cohesive compared to the other features on this project’s remix. The dissonance in the soundscape of the features makes it a bit chaotic. These two tracks could have had better features and songwriting from the featured acts.
The project closes with Ajebo Hustlers with “Come From” where Bloody Civilian sings about her city, Abuja. A place where “you don’t find drugs, drugs will find you,” in her words. “The Buj” has a reputation for medical street sciences, and Bloody confirms this on this track as the featured duo express the “ruggedity” of their own lifestyle orientation where they come from.
Conclusion
Bloody Civilian is fast rising to the top ranks of the music industry, and she’s doing so in her multiple capacities, which is great to see. Her collaboration with several artists on the project remix shows her collaborative skills. Aside from the two tracks I thought could have had better delivery, the project is a solid one. That being said, as a Nigerian living in Nigeria, you should join Anger Management therapy. I mean, at least we tried.