M-Trill takes his listeners through time, pain and love on ‘Missing Piece’ [Compilation Review]
This is M-Trill’s second project of 2020 after ‘Calibre EP,’ his collaborative 5-track EP with, Rheymopheobus.
In 2008, M-Trill released his debut album, ‘Number One’ and his debut mixtape, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen.’ His dexterity and adaptability to the demands of different beats instantly made people take notice of the Port Harcourt-born, Delta State indigene out.
At the 2008 Channel O Music Awards, he was named Best West African Act for his single, ‘Bounce.’ Since then, he has gone to the UK and collaborated with foreign acts as well as numerous Nigerian stars both inside and outside the Nigerian Hip-Hop circles. Since the heights of the late 2010s and the early parts of the 2010s, he has since taken on other flourishing passions and started a family.
A few days ago, he followed up Calibre EP – his collaborative 5-track EP with veteran rapper, Rheymopheobus, which was released earlier in 2020 – with an 11-track compilation, Missing Piece. The album is filled well-produced odes to life as both a young adult and a veteran Nigerian rapper. Other parts of the album address Nigerian Hip-Hop while others are quite introspective, vain and conscious.
Though some songs on this compilation are evidently dated, M Trill produced an incredibly impressive compilation that merges voracious bars, his famously impressive technique and some pop records.
Missing Piece opens with ‘Come Clean,’ a 90’s boom bap that seeks to inspire the heavy-laden and downtrodden. It’s an anti-depressant in the grand scheme. ‘Beautiful’ sounds like something from mid-2000s Ghana – in the mould of ‘My Love’ by 2baba featuring VIP. This song is also an adulation of all the beautiful things about a woman – presumably M Trill’s wife.
‘Where You Dey’ is a refined 2000s boom bap with the soul and melody of Rodney Jerkins pop music. Again, it’s another adulation of a woman’s body – but this time with more detail. In a perfect world, Missing Piece would be perfect with ‘Where You Dey’ on on the track list, but with ‘Beautiful’ off it. ‘Langwa’ features 2Shotz is comedic Hip-Hop filled with anecdotes.
It feels like this one was recorded in the 2000s. But on the real, its biggest attraction is that convergence of Hip-Hop with club tunes. Pherowshuz would have made mad sense on this track. ‘Aboh’ is a South-Eastern Hi-life tune that is filled with braggadocio and odes to the good life. ‘Blackout’ is one of the best Nigerian rap songs out of 2020.
It’s a shiver-inducing rap music that speaks with the pain of an entire people in South-South Nigeria. It seems M Trill had ether flashbacks of dark times as he spat heated bars over this gripping, grimy Hip-Hop beat that conveys that pain with every inch of its musicality. From here, the Hip-Hop tracks roll out in unison.
‘Trilla’ is M Trill’s ode to himself as he flosses about himself and his gifts. ‘Anything’ is another pop track that speaks with the ego of an aristo. ‘Make I Breathe’ will always been an amazing track – the beat is grimy, yet evocative of deep emotions. On it, M Trill does his best rap on Missing Piece. At some point, it feels like he’s flossing.
‘Make I Breathe’ was first released in August 2009 via M Trill’s MySpace page. The way this Hip-Hop beat flips into a pop song around 2:11 is so fresh. ‘Microphone Kills’ is another adulation of self by M Trill on another impressive beat. ‘Who Be Mugu’ is a trap beat with a satirical plot on which M Trill takes aim at the Nigeria’s corrupt political elite.
Final Thoughts
Despite being momentarily hardcore, Missing Piece excels for being accessible music that anyone can listen to and enjoy. The topics that M Trill tackle are grown and relatable, yet the veteran rapper commendably escapes the tendency to sound overly grown or preachy. There’s also the commendable track sequence that separates the pop songs from the grimy rap beats to be applauded.
