MINITE RETURNS WITH “FOLLO” — A LUXURIOUSLY CRAFTED SEDUCTION OF SOUND AND SOUL

Byline: Rita Okoye

Where some songs knock on the door, ‘Follo’ let’s itself in and not only sets the tone but makes the entire room its own universe. Minite delivers with his latest release, a track that is as much about dance floor temptation as it is shaded late-night confession: silk on the skin meets rhythmic muscle that ensures you will stay moving until dawn.

Sonic architects behind the curtain are Arinola Fowler, a name that stokes thrill in the music world as Valztunes, and David Austin Chucks, also known as YMGZEO. This unique sound that are transformed and moulded to create this living, breathing soundscape. Lead producer Valztunes wraps around the listener, frying deep, rounded kicks that thud like a heartbeat beneath warm tropical breezes. Each shaker, each hi-hat is placed as deliberately as a brushstroke, the percussive tapestry heady yet casual.

There’s a restraint here, no clutter, no sonic excess, just sound design that respects silence as well as noise. There is a spaciousness in the hypnotic sway of the bassline and the billowing synth pads, as if, while the dance continues, its heart must rest during each exhale. It is this quality that gives the music an organic warmth, thanks to guitar licks that light up like sunlight on moving water, only to flicker out equally quickly.

YMGZEO is credited as a co-production, and it sounds to the bone that way. His presence is felt through the crescendo before each refrain, the harmonic ascent like plumes of smoke, and the reverb tails that hover long enough to keep you stuck in time. That is the type of music detail that helps create something worth multiple listens, always to find in more details.

Minite is the uniting factor in the centre; charismatic, magnetic and swaying everyone’s mood. His vocal delivery snakes through buttery melodic runs and rhythm-based cadences with a low-key swagger that reels you in, making ‘Follo’ less of an offer to tag along and more about surrendering yourself willingly to someone else’s pace, orbit or pull.

What makes Follo special is its fusion-driven nature. It comes from the groovy and catchy pulse of Afropop, it absorbs R&B sexiness, takes a dose of house music repetitive effects and highlife melodies. It is not static within any one category; it blazes its trail.

Finally, ‘Follo’ is not instead of a track that you simply drop, it is a place that you enter. Valztunes and YMGZEO have gifted Minite a sonic palace, and he moves around it with the presence of someone who never found modern pop difficult to navigate. If Minite is going in that direction, then it needs to be for a good reason.