Album Review: Ammara Brown - Ammartia

Have been waiting for this album since the beginning of the year, included it among 10 Albums I am Looking Forward to In 2017 and its finally here. Ammara has featured on a number of hit jams such as ExQ's Bhachura and Tytan's Mukoko which is also included in this album. To show us a glimpse of what she can do when not featuring she gave us the tracks Watchu Want featuring her lil sis Chengeto and then towards the album she released Akiliz, both the tracks have been received well by a lot of Zimbos, but many remained a bit skeptical of whether she can stand on her own and this album will definitely answer that. Have been listening to the album and now will be sharing my views and thoughts on the album.

Ammara engaged the reliable services of Walter Wanyanya's Ngoma Nehosho for the launch and like many other Ngoma Nehosho events this went on very well, the album launch was well attended. A fitting launch for the already informally crowned " Queen Of  Pop". The album contains 14 tracks, an Intro, Outro and also some tracks we already knew about such as Mukoko, Havarare, Wachu Want and Akiliz. As usual will be doing a track by track review.

1. Ammartia Into

This is an intro into the album, nothing more nothing less.

2. Da Nile

Love the guitar work on this track, the overall production is done very well. This track addresses that situation whereby you are afraid to commit yourself to someone despite the fact that you are into them. Ammara is in such a situation and now she has realized that all this is just denying herself of a good thing so she is now giving in to her feelings. Ammara also delivered a nice performance, i'm not getting the Nile reference but regardless the track is sounding lovely.

3. Havarare

This is the oldest track on this album, it was released early 2016. Regardless the track sounds good, love the production, the guitar work is done well. The jam has a lot of energy and it set the tone perfectly for the energetic Ammara that we have come to know. She also delivered a lovely vocal performance. The track talks about how people never sleep in Harare, there is always activity all over the city at any time of the night. 

4. Mukoko feat. Tytan

This is arguably the biggest track Ammara has featured on, the track still sounds very good even nearly a year after it was released. Did a review of this track when it came out : Tytan feat Ammara Brown Mukoko Track Review

5. Tawina feat Hugh Masekela

She carried on with the afro beat vibe from Mukoko. The instrumental is sounding good, love the saxophone addition towards the end its adds a lovely flavour to the track, the Bra Hugh touch. All in all its well produced. The track then starts going downhill from the moment the chorus starts, the way she is singing just puts me off, the verses are okay but the chorus is a no from me. The track is about celebrating your victories in life, Ammara is urging people to take a moment and have a look at their life journey and celebrate their journey thus far. 

6. Wachu Want feat. Chengeto

This track has been out for some time and keeps getting a lot of love, deservedly so. The track is well produced, Oskid did a superb job on the riddim. Ammara and Chengeto delivered a Brick and Lace inspired type of performance and it worked. The track has this superb flavour to it which makes it a joy to listen to and will get you into a dancing mood.

7. Akiliz

This track is currently getting a lot of love from the masses. Will not go deep into it as I have already done a review : Akiliz Track Review

8. Sey No feat Nutty O

They slowed the tempo on this jam and the results are a super lovely track. The instrumental is sounding very good, love how it switches in the last third of the track. DJ Tamuka did a superb job on the production. The track is addressing a very controversial but common issue whereby a lady falls in love with a man who is taken and the guy despite having the similar feelings asks why he should leave his current lady for the other lady. Ammara goes on to say there is nothing like a  man thief but it's just that the man has realized that you can offer him much better that what his current lady is giving him. The artists delivered good vocal performances, Nutty O was his usual superb self. Ammara was also good on the vocals and she sounded more like how those early 2000's old skool RnB artists used to sound like. 

9. Crystal Blue Moon

This is an interesting and confusing song. Ammara wanted to show how dynamic she can be vocally and it works for like two thirds of the track then towards the end and she tried to rap which is a bit off. She also screamed quite a lot on this track. The track is about being in a love triangle and Ammara is taking the role of the lady who has realized that she was the third wheel and is coming to terms with that. She is taking the high road and letting him go and wishing him the best in the future. The production is done quite well, they laced it with some mbira to give it a traditional feel.

10. Next Lifetime feat Hugh Masekela

This track is a dedication to Ammara's late sister Chiedza Brown. She adopted a proven structure for these kind of songs and tried her best to bring out the emotions and succeeded to an extent but is not convincing. Expected to feel the loss Ammara is feeling but there is none. In terms of production the track sounds like a continuation of Crystal Blue Moon, it sounds like a more vivid version of that track mostly in terms on the mbira. The overall production is done well but i'm not picking the Hugh Masekela elements on this track...was expecting some superb saxophone work but that was not the case. 

11. Khameel's Kick

This is a dedication to her Son Khameel, its Ammara's sharing the hopes and aspirations she has for him, giving him advice and telling him how much he loves him. The track is arranged well and is sounding quite okay. She also delivered a nice vocal performance and ya she likes to scream a lot when she sings.

12. Ode To Mama

This is another dedication, this time to her mother and among all the dedications this is the arguably the best. On this track she is appreciating the role that her mother has played in her life, the support she gave her. She went for the Whitney Houston kind of structure on this track and I have to admit she did quite a solid job, the best among the bunch on new songs.

13. Glow In The Dark

This last track on the album is sort of a dedication and response to all those who follow and have written or said something about Ammara Brown. She is saying if you give yourself time to get to know me you will know the real me and no the one in the tabloids. Over the year she has been subjected to a number of accusations and she is responding to all those on this track. She is baring herself bare, letting everyone how she feels with all that is happening around her. Am not all on board on everything she is saying especially the part she says if we give ourselves time to get to know her we will see she is a lovely person, although its true we cannot all get to know her personally so she must use her music to tell us about the Ammara we should know. The track is sounding quite lovely and is produced well.

14. Ammartia Outro

On the outro he is just appreciating her fans, those who have been supporting her since day one. 

Buy the album: Ammartia on iTunes

Stream the album: Ammartia on Spotify

So ya that's it for the album Ammartia and honestly the album failed to match the expectations I had, its not as hard-hitting as I hoped. After listening to Akiliz I was expecting the album to be a staple this coming festive season, expected it to be filled with energetic pop tracks as is the norm from Ammara but that is not the case and I don't see any of the new tracks getting mileage this festive season.

She adopting various proven formats and structures but the conviction was lacking on a number of tracks eg. Crystal Blue Moon, Next Lifetime. On Tawina the chorus is just a big no from me it ruins the song for me which is painful because the instrumental is lovely especially that saxophone part. So after listening to the album one thing that pops up is that Ammara still needs to work more on her vocals, she tried to be as diverse and dynamic as she can but that in a way made the album sound disjointed.

The biggest disadvantage I felt Ammara had going into this album was songwriting and it showed on this album, her choice of words leave a lot to be desired, on the supposedly emotional tracks she is not as moving as she hoped or envisioned.

To end it all the best track on this album is Mukoko and that's not even an Ammara song and that must tell you a lot. The tracks I knew going into this album are the best tracks on the album and they save the album from being completely mediocre. With this album now the real work begins for Ammara, she needs to greatly improve her songwriting skills or have others write for her and she also has to master her vocals and know which styles and structures fit her vocals best.

My Overall Rating: A, B, C, Poor.

What are your thoughts on the album???

Proud_Zimbo