Candyland by Wasiu

Released January 18th, 2023
Written by Ryan Henderson

Opinion Before Listening:

Wasiu’s most popular song on Spotify (Majesty by Apashe ft. Wasiu) is much credited to the producer as when I heard it I was mindblown to find out it was a specific beat drop that is used in many viral reels on instagram, Tik tok, etc. Waisu was very entertaining but the beat drop is such a work of art it’s hard for him to stand out in comparison to be fair. Wasiu has worked well with these Phonk/EDM producers as Lone Wolf by Egzod ft. Wasiu is another track that blows his usual stream out of the water!

His first album “MTLiens” (fun play on OutKast’s ATLiens) is very interesting having a decent variety of introspective tracks along side hype/up beat rap tracks. I found he was actually most interesting when being introspective on the softer instrumentals almost like 6LACK mixed with an Earl Sweatshirt. His ability to flow so effortlessly is what was most impressive on this album! Tracks I recommend: The Kidz, This Ain’t Toronto, Outer Space.

His second album “Snow Mexican” was honestly pretty boring! The most entertaining parts of the album were the Donald Trump sound bites and jokes. The features Wasiu chose seemed to drag out every song and there was nothing there lyrically the entire album. Nothing thought provoking it reminded me of exactly what old heads mean when they talk about mumble rap. Boring basic beats with boring basic lyrics. I’d honestly recommend just skipping over this album unless you find yourself to be a huge fan of Wasiu.

His third album “MTLiens 2” was immediately looking like something I wanna be into based off the cover since I’m such a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z! I’m hoping for the best going into it! He went with a lot more variety and features than ever which made this album super interesting with it being so different from his last pieces of work. Much more introspective tracks than his other albums meaning he was really trying to send a message with this piece of work!

Now let’s get into his latest piece of work with Candyland!

Tracklist Ranking:

#1: ‘Brown Kool-Aid‘ – 9.5/10
#2: ‘We’ll Be‘ – 9.3/10
#3: ‘Bacardi Party‘ – 9/10
#4: ‘Forbidden Fruit‘ – 8.7/10
#5: ‘Peaches-N-Cream‘ – 8.6/10
#6: ‘Inside The Wrapper‘ – 8.5/10
#7: ‘NOT Tuxedo Mask‘ – 8.3/10
#8: ‘Game 6‘ – 8/10
#9: ‘Plenty Fish‘ – 7.7/10
#10: ‘Gold Truffles‘ – 7.5/10
#11: ‘Welcome To CANDYLAND‘ – 7/10
#12: ‘BonBonBars‘ – 6.5/10

Top 3 Tracks Strictly Based On The Performance:

(trying to analyze bars, singing, and energy put into the music aside from the beat.)

#1 Brown Kool-Aid:“I be sipping on that Brown Kool Aid like everyday, it ain’t healthy but it numbs the pain, goes away.”

Everyone who’s ever experienced any sort of substance dependence short or long term knows about this self realization but continuing the cycle is where we go wrong! You can feel you’re stuck in the addiction but it’s as if you feel comfortable inside of the familiar cycle of taking said substance whether it’s alcohol or something much worse. It’s scary to think about how a substance can have such control over you when you feel like there’s no other way to get that stress relief! I pray for all those going through it or know someone who is!

I feel like his entire 3rd verse should earn a spot on this because he was so raw with his message and emotions in his delivery it’s the highlight of the album almost! With them turning the volume way up on the chorus kicking in it makes it almost cinematic!

#2 We’ll Be: “If you was starving to eat cut my adams apple and… (we’ll be we’ll be we’ll be) sorry I got lost in the beat lemme restart and repeat”

Love this a fire way of giving nods off to his producer showing him absolutely fire his work on this beat is! Shoutout Dear Lola and Braev for crafting this crazy beat! Production nowadays is the most crucial aspect for me at least! If I’m not rocking with the beat it’ll be incredibly hard to give it a chance! Coming second is how the artist flows on the beat and Wasiu was in his bag for flow this entire album! Exciting to see him already have such a name for himself so I know he’ll be grinding to keep improving and have his name takeover!

#3 Bacardi Party: “This shit’ll make you slap somebody,Blast somebody, Ayy dawg can you relax we at a party? 2 girls twerking on me we getting naughty, And Ima give em both the work and make em colleagues, It’s my job to make em blow as a boss”.

One of the craziest ways I’ve heard a rapper bring up having a threesome. This entire track he was way more suggestive but it fit perfectly for the picture he was painting! Getting hype up in the club. He was also way more out of pocket in this track compared to the rest of the album. Also This track is exactly what i imagine every guy who’s getting hyped inner dialogue is like when they’re locked in.

#4 Forbidden Fruit: Seems like on this track Wasiu is telling us about two different stories from his life where he has/wanted to touch ‘Forbidden Fruit’. The first involving his sisters best friend.

“Her body is shaped like a stripper’s, Ask for advice Ima tip her, Sexual tension for years but the kicker, Shorty Best friends with my sister”

Seems like that sexual tension never left and Wasiu had to capitalize on the opportunity when he got older and go demon time.

“I ain’t no pussy girl I’ll make that kitten lunch, And I Used to be just a crush, Now that we older that pussy is getting crushed”

The next story of ‘Forbidden Fruit’ is more of a general story but from where he grew up in Montreal it could be reality!

“Who says we cheated if nobody catches us?Throw me that sweet thing I’ll beat it like candy crush, I fucked some chicks I would not show and tell, Not cuz they ugly they man home from jail”.

Yeah that’s a sticky situation I’d be avoiding to! But Wasiu really excels with metaphors and exhibits a lot of really promising story telling talents as well! If he keeps dialing this in he’s destined for stardom!

#5 Peaches-N-Cream: This song is so much fun with him ripping it up with punchlines and metaphors the entire time! Not a single line that doesn’t work its way into the next somehow! Here’s just a section of the first verse to show you what I’m talking about!

“Pull up dripping now she wet must be the moula, Now she squirted holy water hallelujah, God forgive me but the bitch look like Medusa, Got me harder than my all Versace suit ya, Don’t be salty we already at the beach yeah, Shorty ride it like you own it we don’t lease here”

Overall Rating of the Album: 8.2/10

Well, working on this album, Wasiu had the chance to work with some highly talented individuals who have accolades to proof themselves like unnamed Producers and engineers who had worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and Jon Batiste! This could potentially explain the improvements in his overall sound from his other albums!

Compared to his prior pieces of work Wasiu really set the bar to a whole new level with this album! Everything sounds so much more refined in this album from the jump! You can hear the pretty crazy difference for yourself if you play a track from his first album “MTLiens” then play one from this album right after! He definitely had more of a mainstream sound on this album compared to his others but personally I think it made him shine even brighter than before! With how much he has improved I really enjoy his choice of having only one feature after “MTLiens 2” felt a little overloaded with features! The one feature Kasey Jones held his own on the track “Game 6” and made it very enjoyable instead of downgrading the song like previous features have for Wasiu. This also let Wasiu shine and show how he has grown as an artist! Let me know what you think and form your own opinion by listening here!