Urchman Brings Emotional Weight to Francis Brio’s “Cursed”

Tolulope Oke

In past years, UK-based Nigerian music producer Uchenna Benjamin had already begun sharpening a production style rooted less in excess and more in emotional tension. His recent co-production work on “Cursed” by Francis Brio captures that evolution clearly, delivering an Afrobeats record that feels emotionally conflicted, melodic, and deeply immersive.

At its core, “Cursed” is a love song, but not the comfortable kind. The lyrics move around emotional addiction, the feeling of being trapped inside a connection you know is consuming you, yet choosing to not escape. Francis Brio approaches the subject with raw honesty, repeating ideas that show obsession and surrender. There is a particularly striking emotional thread running through the record: the idea that he does not even want deliverance from the feeling anymore. He would rather stay inside the chaos of love than live without it.

That emotional weight is amplified heavily by Urchman’s production. Instead of building the song around explosive drums or festival-ready energy, the instrumental leans into atmosphere and emotional pacing. The beat moves with a haunting smoothness, balancing soft melodic textures against steady Afrobeats percussion. Every sound feels intentionally placed to support the song’s emotional exhaustion.
The production creates a constant sense of tension underneath the vocals. Even during its smoother moments, “Cursed” never sounds fully at peace. The melodies drift beautifully, but there is a heaviness sitting underneath them, almost like the instrumental itself understands the emotional burden of the lyrics. That balance between vulnerability and groove is where the record becomes most effective.
Francis Brio’s vocal performance works especially well because it avoids overcomplication. He sounds emotionally exposed without becoming theatrical, allowing the writing and melodic phrasing to carry the feeling naturally. The hook lingers immediately, helped by layered harmonies and subtle background textures that give the record depth without overcrowding it.

One of Urchman’s strengths as a co-producer here is restraint. He allows silence and space to become part of the emotion. Smaller details inside the instrumental slowly reveal themselves over repeated listens: faint melodic echoes, restrained drum patterns, soft transitions hidden beneath the vocal lines. It is detailed production without sounding overly engineered.

In many ways, “Cursed” reflects the growing emotional maturity within modern Afrobeats. Rather than presenting love as fantasy, the song explores it as emotional dependency; beautiful, consuming, and at times destructive. That honesty gives the record its identity.

With “Cursed,” Urchman continues proving himself as a producer who understands how to build feeling into sound itself. The co-production does not simply accompany Francis Brio’s story; it quietly becomes part of the heartbreak.