Everybody Loves Ice Prince

Background and recording

Ice Prince got signed to the Chocolate City in 2009. He spent the next year featuring on the tracks of other artists, including Naeto C and Banky W. In the meanwhile, behind the scenes, he was working on his debut album with labelmates Brymo, M.I and Jesse Jagz. On June 8, 2011, with the release of "Oleku", Ice prince started gaining recognition in Nigeria. "Oleku" was met with great reception and created great anticipation behind Ice Prince's debut album. Work on the album continued into 2011. On April 22, 2011, the second single from the album was released. "Superstar" received radio airplay but was not as successful as "Oleku". On September 9, 2011, Ice Prince and Chocolate City announced the album's title and release date.

After the death of his mother, Ice Prince received an outpouring of love and support from his fans. In writing the album, Ice Prince wanted to create a work that would not let his fans down after all they had done for him.

Days before the release, the album was known simply as E.L.I., and the full title was kept under wraps. There was much speculation as to what E.L.I. might stand for until Chocolate City announced that it was an acronym for Everybody Loves Ice Prince. When asked in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune how he came about the title, Ice Prince replied: "At first, I wanted to name the album after the street I used to live in Jos but when I lost my mother, ‘the mad love’ I got from everybody around the world made me change it to Everybody Loves Ice Prince".

Influence and sound

Everybody Loves Ice Prince incorporates many genres of West African music. It is predominantly a collection of hip hop records, but incorporates elements of R&B, dancehall, raga, afrobeat, reggae, highlife and soul. Ice Prince deliberately moved in this direction to avoid being seen as “just another rapper”. In an interview with Naija Entertainment, Ice Price said Everybody Loves Ice Prince is a fusion of many genres. "I don’t want to be seen as just a rapper; in fact, I love singing more than rapping."

According to Chocolate City, Everybody Loves Ice Prince is an album centered around and influenced by love and music. Ice Prince cites that his work drew a lot of influence and motivation from his mother’s death, and the outpouring of love and encouragement he received as consolation from his fans.

All songs on the album were written by Panshak Zamani except where the track features another artist, in which case that artist was also involved in the writing for that track.

Singles

The album's earliest singles were "Oleku" and "Superstar". It was alleged that "Oleku" was the most downloaded and mixed Nigerian single of 2010. "Juju" is the third single from this album. The music video for the single was directed by Godfather Productions, a South Africa-based production company. The music video was leaked on February 18, 2012.

Release

Everybody Loves Ice Prince was launched in Lagos on 9 October 2011 at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotels and Suites. The launch concert was incredibly anticipated and starred Ice Prince with a live band consisting of Chocolate City labelmates and producers Jesse Jagz and M.I on drums and keyboard respectively. The concert, put together by Chocolate City, also featured Tuface Idibia, D'banj, Wizkid, Naeto C, D'Prince, Tiwa Savage, Samklef, Brymo, Hip Hop Pantsula and Sarkodie. The DJ for the night was The Beat 99.9 FM and Chocolate City in-house jockey DJ Caise, while the concert was hosted by radio personality Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa and actress Funke Akindele. The show started four hours behind schedule, but the delay did not in any way dampen the expectation of the audience who waited patiently for the show to take off.

Critical reception

Everybody Loves Ice Prince received mixed reviews from music critics. It was generally a good album, but did not live up to the hype surrounding it. Some critics found that in an attempt to appeal to a majority of the public by mixing in a lot of genres, Ice Prince lost the direction and unifying sound of a pure hip hop record. Others have commended Ice Prince on adding other genres because they feel that it creates a new sound and adds variety to the listening experience. The variety of styles reflects on the full scope of the music Ice Prince writes, rather than just one section of it.

Another criticism of the album was that it varies greatly in the quality of the music. Some critics found that the album was made up of several excellent songs, strung together by a fleet of bad ones. A common complaint was that the lyrics were full of cheesy lines, which do not help his (Ice Prince’s) credibility. The album was commended on its catchy singable tunes and public appeal. Generally, Everybody Loves Ice Prince was praised for being a great shot at a debut album, if not slightly over hyped.

Accolades

E.L.I won Best Rap Album and was nominated for Album of the Year at The Headies 2012.