Johnny Crown

By Seun Okewole

The New York-born Nigerian Hip-Hop artiste, Johnny Crown Omolade popularly known by his stage name ‘Johnny Crown’ penetrated the music industry with his debut project, an album he titled ‘Drunk.’ The 27-year-old superstar released an 11-track album with beguiling titles which represent different brands of alcohol. Each of the tracks portrays Johnny Crown’s poetic prowess in explaining love by comparing it with several brands of alcoholic drinks. The title of each track undoubtedly captures the album title ‘Drunk.’

The album opens with a love song titled ‘Louis XIII’ (Louis Thirteen), inspired by a cognac brand owned by Remy Martin, a French spirits company. In this track, Johnny Crown like every sweet lover-boy praises his lover in a hyperbolic manner in the hook, and reveals her potential of becoming a queen despite not being a royal descendant ‘you deserve to be queen, beautiful babe.’ He continues by professing his intimate intent towards his lover while they are on a Louis XIII (Louis Thirteen) alcohol spree ‘We gonna make some love, while we on a Louis XIII.’ Louis XIII is a tender and intriguing hip-hop track that softly warms the listener’s heart, and desire to love more.

The second track as expected is titled an alcohol brand ‘Ace of Spades.’ Like the first track, Johnny Crown still wears his lover boy garment and professes how his lover’s existence is a blessing ‘walked into my life and made it shine, haters, they can’t believe you are mine.’ To factually reveal his strong affection towards his partner, he sang ‘If loving you was a crime, I won’t mind doing time.’ In the third verse, Johnny Crown showed his rap prowess briefly but beautifully. Apart from the lyrical content, the song comes with a rhythmical and silky melodic instrumental. The song is a kind that soothes lovers and caresses the heart.

The third track ‘Virginia Black’ opens with a trap sound and rhythm. Johnny Crown still did not relent from being a true lover. The first verse opens with ‘Girl you are a shining star, I’m travelling to where you are.’ He further advised his lover to care less about the naysayers and haters. He went beyond hailing and appraising his admirer, by boasting about his money and how he tend to lavish on her, luxury and expensive lifestyles. The chorus also comes with a boast ‘mamacita, it is nice to meet ya. Come chill and relax, I go the Virginia Black.’  Apart from the energetic trap instrumental of the song, the lyrics are blended with lust, fervent desires, and hyperbolic affections.

On the fourth track ‘Effen’, one could feel the sensual vibes of Johnny Crown in the soft trap rhythm. He talked and emphasized his connection with love, lust, and sensational desire. Track five ‘Ciroc Apple’ comes with a mix of R ‘n’ B and Hip-Hop sounds. He brags about giving his lover special treatment and flying her around the world ‘Fly you round the world, buy you diamonds and golds.’ In the chorus, he gave an assurance to back up his genuine love towards his woman ‘I get you, Ciroc apple.’ He also emblazoned the song with soft core rap verse, just as he did in track two and three. On the sixth track ‘Hello Hennessy, he tells a story of lust and sexual desires. He explained the dreams he had concerning his admirer and the urge to make them come through. He claimed ‘Then I went to sleep and had some dreams, I had the dreams that we were smashing.’ In the song, he also sang about his love for the Hennessy, ‘I got so much energy from drinking all these Hennessy.’ The sixth track does not only depict his lust towards his woman but also his love for the Hennessy.

Johnny Cross on the seventh track ‘Crown Royal’. The eighth track ‘Jack & Coke’, the ninth track ‘Jose Cuervo’, and the tenth track ‘Bellaire Rose’ furthered with the repetition of his fervid affection and lustful moments. He explained his love with sensational diction and sweet-mouthed lyrics. On the last track ‘D’usse’, Johnny Cross ended the album with an ethereal sound. He sees himself as a king, and his lover as a queen ‘I love you, queen, they call me king.’ In this track, he talks about how they savoured the ‘D’usse’ drink and from there to hear her scream; a bedroom fantasy.

To cap it all, this debut album of Johnny Crown ‘Drunk’ shows his intelligence and openness to varieties of language usage and lyrical prowess. His poetic manner juxtaposes the connection between alcohol and love. All 11 tracks were titled with different names of alcohol brand, and through this he carved creativity out of it and made fascinating Hip-Hop sounds out of it with a mix of R ‘n’ B and Afrobeats. Johnny Crown is a young talented and promising musical artiste and rapper. This album speaks a lot about his competence and futuristic wave in the music purview.