Vivi's new single, "Purpose," is a masterclass in blending a modern R&B top line with infectious Afrobeats energy to create something current and intensely personal. The song offers you an invitation to a reflective space, with a provoking but straightforward question, "Are you dating with a purpose?" It's a topic that appeals to anyone trying to make sense of today's whirlwind of casual encounters and small talk.
The jam features Nigerian producer Kenwiza, whose excellent production yields a rich, multilayered instrumental that serves as the perfect backdrop to Vivi's vocals. Vivi describes the thought processes that resulted in "Purpose," and she wrote the first verse. Kenwiza produced the beat, and the two of them naturally refreshed a song that feels pure and raw emotionally. In every note and rhythm, the symbiosis is evident, and what that symbiosis produces feels at once polished and intimate.
In terms of lyrics, "Purpose" is a combination of introspection and relatability. Vivi isn't just crooning about the frustrated dance of hollow introductions, and she's asking you to muse on your own existential searches, and the song sounds like a private conversation set to music. It is this emotional accessibility and he catch combination of highlife and new school R&B that has produced a spectacular track for fans of contemporary R&B and Afro-pop at large. "Purpose" floats down a silky wave in between modern R&B grooves and Afro-fusion textures.
The percussion is soft but active, driving the song along without overtaking Vivi's croon, and hints of Afrobeats swing bring an inviting warmth and danceable energy. It's the type of song that works equally well as a headphone think piece or on a dance floor, a testament to Vivi's versatility as an artist. Ultimately, Purpose establishes Vivi as an artist unafraid to discuss real-world questions, lending her own music a depth, warmth, and humanness that invites you in. It's an illustration of her uncanny talent to mix substance for thought with a contagious groove, which runs in your head even after the song comes to an end. With "Purpose," Vivi is beginning a conversation, and it's one that you will be hard-pressed to walk away from.
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