Waje is one of those singers so gifted, she often sounds like she’s laces her voice on any beat without breaking a sweat. After six years of carefully creating her niche, Waje has finally arrived with her debut album. She is often touted as one of Nigerian best vocalists and now we can measure that claim by Words Aren’t Just Enough (Waje Music Entertainment).
She has in the past flirted electro pop R&B production and it wasn’t a surprise she opened up her album in a comfortable zone. Songs such as "Ijeoma", "Fine Girl", and "No Tomorrow" showcases her mastering of this genre. Continuing with the R&B theme, Waje experiments with Reggae on “I Wish”. The song is a moment of vulnerability as Waje reflects on being a victim of nonreciprocal love and she wishes “she had not heart.”
What seems to be a subliminal purpose of the record is to elevate herself from the level of her contemporaries; Waje delivers her best vocal performance on “No Be U”. This song is a blueprint in understanding how gifted and passionate she is about her work. It has a potential to be one of her biggest songs if properly promoted as a single. It is a masterfully crafted love song.
Waje wants to be taken as a serious artist, she played to her are strength and the results are impressive. In order to avoid the long shadows of big names, she only features a handful artists; MI, Tiwa Savage, J.Martins, Sarkodie, Eva, Phyno and Burna Boy. Needless to say, her effort with M.I and Burna Boy stands out the most. Waje and M.I chemistry is written in the stars- "Only You" is another huge single.
Besides being solidly built and not overstuffed at 14 tracks long, the album triumphs by not overly experimenting. She doesn’t fall into the trap of having very song she recorded on the album like most albums these days. The album is consciously R&B and Female power driven. On "Fine Girl" she sings “cos I am grown. I hustle…diva toh bad.” Waje goes inspirational on "Ijeoma" with “ you’ve got to work to grow and the road can be rough.”
Many artists are afraid to grow and get complacent. This isn’t the case with Waje. She worked with an established and upcoming range of producers Del B, Spelz, Ekely,Sizzle Pro, Cobhams Asuquo, Leriq , M.I, who all bring their cliché to bear- producing a solid album instead of a quickie. The result is a brilliant debut project that shows maturity and professionalism. Words Aren’t Just Enough is definitely not the average album. Waje has proven she can be a strong vocalist, a lyricist and an entertainer. With her almost perfect vocal abilities with polished production, W.A.J.E sees Waje inching towards Nigerian R&B upper echelon, while still exhibiting the hunger of a single album artiste.
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