Loick Essien gives you ‘Whatever You Like’
Even though the first quarter of 2020 has not been the best when it comes to current affairs, this first quarter has been good for music. Coming through this month is Loick Essien with brand new single ‘Whatever You Like’.
Fans of Dappy, August Alsina and N-Dubz will enjoy his music. If you haven’t already heard of him, you’re missing out on 11 years worth of work. Cease the hunt. We’ll have his Spotify linked below.
Quick Background Check:
A Londoner of both Nigerian and Ghanaian decent, the R&B singer’s journey in the music industry has truly been a rollercoaster. Regardless of it all, Loick Essien’s bounce-back has been quite fruitful. It all started in 2007 when he featured on the chorus of Bashy’s ‘Black Boys’.
This controversial track made waves in the UK and sparked plenty of conversation about what it means to be a successful person of colour in the rap music industry. For the next three years, he consistently appeared as a featured artist until he made his official solo debut (at number 56 in the UK chart) with the single ‘Love Drunk’ in October of 2010; released through Sony Music.
After his debut, he put out 3 more singles, one of them being ‘How We Roll’, featuring vocalist Tanya Lacey, which sold 52,010 copies in the first week, entering at number two in the UK singles Chart – his biggest single to date.
Things took an unexpected turn when the R&B singer was dropped by Sony just weeks before the scheduled release of his debut album ‘Identity’ – due in March 2012.
In true fighting spirit, he didn’t let a botched deal keep him down for long. In July 2012, he released the I.D mixtape, featuring the tune ‘Bad Boys Don’t Cry‘ with long-time musical compadre Bashy.
Loick is now signed to Sony Music’s Insanity Records, but there were a multitude of singles and projects after the self-release of I.D, including a personal favourite Terminal 5 in 2015.
Can we just take a moment to swoon over the songs ‘Foolish’ and ‘Bad Habit’?
Okay, I’m done. Back to b’iness…
Where Is Loick Essien Is Now:
Just last week, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance graduate dropped the music video for ‘Whatever You Like’ featuring Mr Eazi, Aida Lae and, of course, Wretch 32 whom he has frequently worked with. With each artist having quite a decent slice of the pie, they all had an opportunity to shine as reflected through their displays of personality in the music video. Aida Lee has a voice reminiscent of the early 2000’s pop/R&B which compliments the beat, accompanied by 3 fun-filled verses by Mr Eazi, Wretch 32 and Loick himself.
As much as his music is often worthy of praise, I feel as though the singer has far more to offer than what this track showed.
However, if this is a peek into what’s coming over the next year, it’s not a bad start.
When ‘Whatever You Like’ hit over 200 000 streams on Spotify, Loick posted an Instagram video thanking fans for the love and may have even prompted a TikTok / Thriller Vids challenge, so we’ll be lurking on the socials for that. ‘Whatever You Like’ has already been streamed over 251 000 times on Spotify and speaking of Spotify, as promised, we have linked Loick Essien’s catalogue right here. While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter and us on Instagram to stay updated on the ongoings of your favs.