Sarkodie stamps his dominance with eighth studio album, ‘Jamz.’

Africa’s most coveted rapper, Sarkodie, recently released his eighth LP to the anticipation of many music lovers in both his home country Ghana, and abroad. Fittingly titled ‘Jamz,’ I was looking forward to it being a project full of bops. And boy did he deliver!

As tradition dictates, let’s dive in to see what it has for us.

Track 1 is titled ‘Labadi.’ Sarkodie and King Promise are a duo that never go wrong. You could easily see how big of a fan King Promise is, with how he put together various parts of prominent Sarkodie songs to craft the hook on this one. And you can trust Sarkodie to give that luxury talk; the type that would want you to get your money up.

Second song in and you can tell this is a very well thought out and curated album. Not only is Sarkodie pairing up with artistes who can sing choruses, but artistes he gets along with creatively. Sark and Ox got one with ‘She Bad,’ for their already impressive track record of ‘Overload 2’ and ‘Non Living Thing.’ Technically, Sarkodie showed off on this particular record, proving he can do other things besides just rap.

‘Confam’ is that record. Talk about production, content, delivery, flow; everything is on point. He takes us back to 2009/10 Sarkodie with his subject matter and raps. Getting to the end I thought I could hear Medikal there for a second, but I then realized it was indication that Sarkodie is keeping up with times and evolving in his music-making, and artistry.

Track 4 is called ‘One Million Cedis,’ which features Ink Boy. Sarkodie makes stunning love songs, I must say. There’s also much evidence of his excellent A&R, because getting into this record, I had no idea who the featured artiste was. Sark also goes in on the second verse, blowing his pitch as the perfect lover out of the park.

Lojay come outside! I need to chat to you real quick. What have you been putting in your stew lately? He might be emulating Messi with the way he’s been handing out assists recently. ‘Cougar’ would definitely be a fan favorite.

Track 6 features Jamaican Dancehall artiste, Kranium. ‘Forever’ beautifully captures that initial stage of a relationship where everything is good and dandy. Again, we see the kind of influence Sarkodie has on the artistes he features because, Kranium’s use of the Twi language is pure class.

I think a Sark and Cina Soul song has been long overdue. Their efforts on ‘Over Me’ lives up to the expectation, and you can always trust Cina Soul to sprinkle some ‘Ga’ in there. The mix on this particular song is also great.

Now, Sarkodie and Joeboy? That’s a very unlikely pairing. I’m surprised at how this worked to perfection on ‘Hips Don’t Lie.’

Since Sarkodie’s co-sign of Black Sherif after his breakout, a number of people; which I’m part of, have been expecting a song from the two of them. I thought all hope was lost when Sarkodie didn’t make an appearance on Black Sherif’s album, but it’s now clear they knew what they were doing by saving ‘Country Side’ for Sark’s project. This song might be the standout hit off this LP. A riveting hook, aspirational lyrics and a great production was all it took.

At the end, we have ‘Better Days’ featuring BNXN. I like the fact Sarkodie touched on certain parts of his journey up until this point. Real testament to the saying that, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” The least said about BNXN the better. This man has successfully earned the ‘Captain Hook’ moniker.

Sarkodie has done what most rappers on the continent fail to do, leave the singing to the ones good at it. Not only did he do that, but he put together a stellar group of singers to provide the synergy this project required. These concise and cursory ten songs are going to soundtrack many memorable events. Songs that’ll make it to a vibey playlist, backed by vivid storytelling about an aspirational life, luxury, enjoyment, women, lyrics of debauchery and all it comes with.

I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say this project houses a number of the most exciting Sarkodie songs to drop in a while.