Singable lyrics

I have thought about this topic a lot and have had it loaded in my mind for a long time, waiting for the perfect time to spill it all out and possibly have the time to type everything in my head. Lol.

It still surprises me how people rate highly lyrical songs sung in a twisted tone where the listeners have to Google the lyrics before they can clearly understand what the artist is saying. Did you get that? You must have come across songs where the artist sings in a tone that's not easily understandable at first listen—where the artist either sings 'through the nose' or twists their voice into a very unfamiliar tone just to sound unique.

In Nigeria and Africa as a whole, one of the reasons we loved and still love P-Square's songs is because their tone is audible and they usually have singable lyrics. Come on, anyone who knew their songs back then can actually sing a line or two from them. Even the verses that were done in rap—many of us could easily sing along.

That's the power of singable lyrics. It attracts people easily, it gives the song a good flow, and it also makes it easier for people to chant the music together.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of songwriters who are actually good at crafting great lyrics, but because they’re not audible or because they prefer to use a faint or so-called 'unique' voice, their songs end up being uninteresting. People will only vibe to the beat or probably just the singable chorus.

https://youtu.be/XCjU9qbfv1U?si=3d2l0t865jqjLMPW

Now, the song that actually prompted me to write this is "With You" by Davido and Omah Lay. When this song was newly released, a lot of people rated Omah Lay’s verse highly. Each time I saw posts praising his verse, I would go back and listen again, and honestly, I was baffled—because for me, Davido’s verse was the highlight. It was so audible and singable.

Guess what? Later on, Davido’s verse eventually became the most talked-about part of the song. How did that happen? I guess people’s eyes were opened.

Omah Lay’s verse, no doubt, is good lyrically, but his voice sounded like someone being forced to talk—it was delivered so faintly. Meanwhile, even a 10-year-old child in Nigeria can sing Davido’s verse with excitement.

Thanks for reading.

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