Praiz is not hot anymore in Nigeria. Neither is he the hottest in his record label, X3M Music. That tag can be given to Simi , who has been consistently putting in the work, and kept a presence to back it up.
First Praiz is still tagged as ‘Mr Rich & Famous’, four years after he first debuted the single which defined his career, and set him on the path of ‘good’ music (another name for all things alternative). He is a rare talent, one of the few who make it through the underground into stardom before going on to shine brighter than the rest.
Praiz has honestly not shined brighter than the rest. He has shone, dropped a debut album, soared for a while, and stagnated. His personal business is still on course, publishing has favored him in South Africa, and so has the push to be an artiste who straddles the fence between pop music and R&B.
But since he dropped his double in 2014, and proceeded to milk the singles out of it, he is yet to score another hit song. All of what he has done in music, via personal projects and collaborations have failed to go pop or gather the amount of traction that can have any considerable bearing on the culture, and most importantly, the local market.
For all the good standing that he possesses, he is yet to cross the 1 million mark on Youtube. His highest grossing video is still ‘Sisi’, his collaboration with the African superstar, Wizkid. That song still stands as his greatest pop hit.
“Rich & Famous” album was meant to be his foundation, upon which he will build and grow. He is working hard, but failing to get the necessary traction.
After milking the songs off the album, he has new materials for the next phase, only that he is more focused on pop music now. His two singles, ‘Harder’ » featuring Patoranking, and ‘Body hot’ » featuring Stonebwoy and
Jesse Jagz. These are good pop songs in their right, with great visuals to back them up. But at the moment, all of that arsenal are misfiring. He currently has ‘ 69’ » , another collaboration featuring Burna Boy and
Ikechukwu, a cross-genre fusion track. He is searching for his next hit, and that cannot come sooner.
Praiz’s talent is outstanding talent, and he is knocking on the front door of a new era for himself. He has tasted an incredible place in the music industry, coming out of the shadows to make himself a force. But that power isn’t working at the moment, as everything isn’t coming together. He needs to get his mojo on, and break down the doors to the next level. How he does that is entirely dependent on him and the folks at X3M music. We can but look on and cheer in support.