Released April 24, 2013 Recorded 2013 Label Chocolate City | Format Digital download Length 3:10 | |
Genre Hip hop, African hip hop | ||
"V.I.P" is a song by Nigerian hip hop recording artist Ice Prince, released on April 24, 2013 under Chocolate City. The song was originally intended to be included on Ice Prince's second studio album Fire of Zamani (2013), but was ultimately removed from the final track-listing due to reasons that haven't been made public. It peaked at 26 on Afribiz's Top 100 chart.
Contents
The song debuted at number 9 on MTV Base's Official Naija Top 10 chart from July 6 through July 13, 2013. It entered the music countdown alongside "Personally".
Critical reception
Upon its release, the song was met with mixed reviews from music critics. A writer for Jaguda said: "One first listen, VIP sounds eerily similar to Aboki. If I didn’t see the name, I would’ve thought it was a remix sorta."
Aribaba, another writer for Jaguda gave the song 5 out of 10 stars, adding: "My first thought (as well as that of many others) was that, this song sounds just like Aboki. Now it’s one thing to “stick with the same style”, but it’s another thing to photocopy and song and change a few things about it. I’m an Ice Prince fan, but I must say I was kinda disappointed. Paper chasing tactics I guess. Now with that being said, the song will probably still do well, and as a stand-alone song it’s actually good. The beat is solid from ChopStix, and Ice price style stays the same (obviously) and the chorus is nice, just like with Aboki. It’s just not fresh and doesn’t get one excited."
Background
The music video for "V.I.P", directed by Clarence Peters at Dream Studios, was uploaded onto YouTube on June 21, 2013. It ran for a total length of 3 minutes and 17 seconds. M.I, Dr SID, N6, Phyno, Lynxxx, Iyanya, Emma Nyra, Pryse, GRIP Boiz, and Illbliss made cameo appearances in the video. A behind the scenes video shoot for "V.I.P" was uploaded onto YouTube on June 11, 2013.
Controversy
After the release of Ice Prince's "V.I.P" music video on 21 June 2013, Peters was accused of plagiarising the contents of Slaughterhouse's "My Life" video and implementing them into the "V.I.P" video. In February 2014, Ice Prince defended the actions of Peters and said he told him the ideas to shoot. He also said that if anyone has a problem with the situation, they should hold him responsible.
Accolades
The music video for "V.I.P" was nominated for "Best Use of Visual Effects" and "Best Hip Hop Video" at the 2013 Nigeria Music Video Awards.