Arabesque
August 14th, 2026
Earlier this year, a friend shared some of his experiences with me. While he probably felt he was having a unique experience, I could relate to what he shared in a way that scared me. That got me thinking, and my honest submission is that we humans are more alike than we give ourselves credit for. We may not readily realize this because we mostly trivialize how shared and collective our common existence is. If you think of it, we’re all the same person in different cases, fonts and sizes, and we're making different decisions with the choices we’re presented with. Divides like race, social class, language, gender and the likes, seem to present a false sense of division, but if we can look beyond those, it’s pretty obvious. With the right variables in place, you could easily have been someone else, living in another part of the world, speaking a different language, living a completely different life, making decisions that the present version of yourself wouldn’t make, and nothing would feel out of place.
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People relate to stories they see or hear because they see bits of themselves (or people known to them) in those stories. Our souls speak the same language, and we can always hear and understand it if we’re open. For instance, art is a way of expressing that universal language. When we’re listening to a song in an unfamiliar language, we could feel stuff because our souls recognize something. People relate to stories they see or hear because they see bits of themselves (or people known to them) in those stories. Across different social and moral divides, people see visual artworks/photographs and feel the signal. Well, this is just a random thought that I had that I thought you’d want to hear.
For today’s New Music Friday, two albums stand out for me - Nathaniel Bassey’s "The Life Recording" and Ayra Starr’s "Starrgirl". The first is a deep well that just pulled me into it. Every element of the seven songs are on point - background vocals, production and everything else. Anyone who knows and really listens to Pastor Nathaniel Bassey’s music knows what I’m talking about. Today, I’ve played the album from the first to last track about three times and I still can’t get enough. Maximum respect! My favourite track for now is "New Beauty".
The second album, Starrgirl, exceeded my expectations by a mile! Ayra showed her versatility across tracks and collaborations. The production was stellar. Her vocals were great. She was hitting all those notes! It’s definitely an album I’ll revisit.
A standout single I loved was Niniola’s "Raining (O Dun Mi)”. Through the years, Niniola has mastered the art of using catchy beats and melodies to pass messages that seem to hide behind the song’s perceived meaning. She has yet again dropped a banger that’s really heavy with a message that can easily be missed if you’re not really listening. In the past, she celebrated her father’s life with "Addicted". Now, her new drop "Raining" celebrates the life of her late husband. As always, she doesn’t miss. The vibe is right. It’s a really emotional song that anyone else would’ve made into a ballad, but Niniola being herself, she cooked and served a banger!
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