Fire of Zamani (abbreviated as FOZ) is the second studio album by Nigerian rapper Ice Prince. Sean Stan of Vintage Sounds Production mastered the album before Chocolate City released it on October 28, 2013.[1] Comprising eighteen tracks, Fire of Zamani features guest appearances from Sunny Neji, Wale, M.I, Chip, Ruby Gyang, Wizkid, French Montana, Jesse Jagz, Olamide, Sound Sultan, Burna Boy, Yung L, Jeremiah Gyang, Shaydee, and Morell.[2] The album's production was primarily handled by Chopstix, a member of Grip Boiz City, along with additional production from Don Jazzy, Jay Sleek, Sammy Gyang, and E-Kelly.
Fire of Zamani was marketed to East Africans by the distribution platform Mdundo, and yielded the singles "Aboki", "More", "Gimme Dat", and "I Swear".[3]
Background and promotion
Ice Prince first announced the album's title and release timeframe during an interview with Toolz on Ndani TV's The Juice.
He said he put everything into the record, working on it as if it were his first. Additionally, he claimed to have heard the term "Fire of Zamani" while listening to 2face's album The Unstoppable.[4] Originally slated for publication on September 9, 2013, Fire of Zamani was meant to honor those who perished in the Jos crisis of 2001. [5][6] On October 17, 2013, Ice Prince revealed the album's artwork as a collage consisting of small posters, and released the track list four days later.[7][8]Fire of Zamani is available on the Spinlet platform, a digital media library application similar to iTunes.[9][10]
Chocolate City held an album launch concert on November 23, 2013, at the Expo Hall of Eko Hotels and Suites.[11] The concert featured performances from Ice Prince, Chip, M.I Abaga, Don Jazzy, Olamide, Burna Boy, Sunny Neji, Yung L, Ruby, Morell, Jeremiah Gyang, DJ Caise and DJ Edu.[12] In December 2013, Ice Prince held an album listening session at the Hilton Sandton in Johannesburg. He gave a detailed account of each song on the album and signed autograph copies of the album for each guest. The event was hosted by South African rapper Da L.E.S.[13]
Singles and other releases
The album's lead single "Aboki", which translates to Friend in Hausa, was released on August 28, 2012. The song was produced by Chopstix and celebrates some of the most successful individuals from Northern Nigeria.[14] The music video for "Aboki" was directed by Phil Lee in Los Angeles.[15]
The album's second single, "More", was also released on August 28. Its music video was shot and directed in London by Moe Musa. British-Nigerian singer Lola Rae played Ice Prince's love interest in the video.[16][17] "Gimme Dat" was released as the album's third single on April 23, 2013. The song was also produced by Chopstix and features vocals by Yung L, Burna Boy and Olamide.[18] An alternative version of the song, featuring Wande Coal, surfaced on the internet after the release of the official version.[19] The French Montana and Shaydee-assisted track "I Swear" was released on September 9, 2013, as the album's fourth single.[20] The music video for the song was shot and directed in the U.S by J.R Saint.[21]
On February 20, 2014, Ice Prince premiered the Sesan-directed music video for "Jambo".[22] On May 28, 2014, he released the music video for "Whiskey", which was directed by Aje Filmworks and features cameo appearances from Sunny Nneji and DJ Caise.[23] In an interview with MTV UK in April 2014, Ice Prince said he would release the music video for "Mercy", a song that features a verse from British rapper Chip.[24] On August 6, 2014, Ice Prince released a video for the AKA-assisted remix of "N Word".
Fire of Zamani received mixed reviews from music critics. Reviewing for YNaija, Wilfred Okiche called the album "easily accessible and ridiculously catchy" and said it "shines as bright as Ice wants it to".[27] In a negative review, Ayomide Tayo of Nigerian Entertainment Today gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, saying the "lack of a solid theme running through the LP makes the whole project sound all over the place."[25] Toye Trill of 9jaNinja granted the album 4.8 out of 10, adding "there were so much reggae infusion into Ice's verses, that lyrically only few songs didn't have evidence of Ice Prince's inner rasta man, for a supposed rap album."[26]
