Bankole Wellington (Banky W) released the album, Bank Statements, in November 2021 to celebrate his fourth wedding anniversary. The album is packed with seven tracks of divergent genres of music such as Hip-hop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. In totality, the album did well to prove that Banky W hasn’t lost his touch with music even after a five-year hiatus.
In addition to the advanced dexterity displayed in the album, it is very evident that he has gone through a unique kind of evolution. One can also say that it’s as a result of the events that serenaded his personality in those five years that changed the entirety of his belief systems in areas such as marriage, politics, music, the movies, and faith
Get Our Special Gift!!!
Join our 500+ subscribers to enjoy our premium content. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our special gift!
Starting with the hit track, JO, Jo is a hip-hop love song, in fact, if you know Adesua and Banky W, you’ll know that they never forget to portray the perfect imperfections of love and marriage. The song would definitely make your legs move in synergy with the beat. Some say that the music video would have been better off if it was sizzling with women and the notorious sex appeal that most ‘hip-hop love songs’ are known for. However, Banky did well to reiterate the sweetness of marriage, up to the point that it gives much more than the sizzling effects that are required.
‘I’m feeling nice ’cause my wife’s a hottie’
Nowadays, people see marriage as bondage and an endless train of boredom since they’re confined to being with just one person till death. However, the song is loud enough to let the world know that marriage is exciting and adventurous no matter how old it is. It’s a bold step in correcting the queer definitions of love and marriage that’s popular in the world today.
All due respect to Cobhams Asuquo, M.I Abaga, Masterkraft, and Timothy King who spearheaded the music production. There was a top-notch balance of sound, lyrics, and beats. In all of the tracks, there was mastery in every beat and sound, this helped in bringing out the brilliance of Mercy Chinwo’s vocal controls in the gospel track ‘Selense’. Mercy Chinwo’s influence in gospel music space originates from her expertise, experience in her understanding of delicate threads of music, and as usual, she brought her signature to the song.
Get Our Special Gift!!!
Join our 500+ subscribers to enjoy our premium content. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our special gift!
‘Selense’ is a song of testimony and thanksgiving to God that’s likely to be heard booming from church buildings in no distant time. Although Banky is relatively new to the gospel sphere, he exhibits a certain kind of mastery that keeps him on the same pedestal with gospel music gurus, the likes of Mercy Chinwo. ‘My Destiny’ is another gospel track featuring Brookstone and Lagos Community Gospel Choir.
Sincerity in any work of art is a mirror that connects the listeners and the artist in incomprehensible ways. This way, the listener walks hand in hand with the artist through the lyrics, sound, and tone. This is exactly what is happens in the tracks, “Press Restart”, “Welcome to the Bank Statements”, and “Talk and Do”.
“Press Restart” is a rap song that explains the plethora of emotions that run through the heart of a man of many mistakes.
I know I’m not a perfect man but it seems like I’m paying for the sins of your ex-man.
He raps about the damaging effects of rumors, fake news, and the celebrity spotlight. Letting his listeners know that fame has a way of shoving the mistakes that you’ve made in your face even when you’ve walked away from it.
I refuse to feel the fire of the fake news….I’ll take the blame for the things they say that I did but I didn’t do
‘Talk and Do’ speaks directly to the core of political apathy, and societal discrepancies, it features stars such as 2 face Idibia, Waje, Seun Kuti, and Timi Dakalo. Banky W took the reins of the rap, reiterating the need for the resilience that’s needed to build a better society in our various fields.
Hearing 2face’s eccentric voice reminded me of how pleasant I felt when I heard ‘Come Make We Go’ (featuring Sauti Sol) for the first time. Placing Waje and Timi Dakalo over the riffs that coordinated the choir’s chorus was quite good but I felt that another verse would have made it better. Seun Kuti’s magic on the saxophone added the ‘street’ ingredient that was needed.
Get Our Special Gift!!!
Join our 500+ subscribers to enjoy our premium content. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our special gift!
‘Song For You’ is another love song but an R&B version, at some point I felt it’s a reiteration of the promises made in ‘Press Restart’. There’s no way that one can ignore the relationship between the three love songs, it felt like ‘Press Restart’ was the rising action, ‘Song For You’, the climax, and ‘Jo‘, the resolution
Finally to our last track but the first on the album, ‘Welcome to the Bank Statements’, is a fusion of all the changes that he’s gone through over the years. These changes have made him a phoenix of artistic evolution, therefore, making the song a platform to let others know the lessons that he’s learned.
‘ This is not an intro, but my keynote, it’s a speech…it’s an advice take it..’
He raps about financial prudence, the importance of knowing the insecurities that come with the craze for fame, money, and greed. He also added the damages that come with an untamed ego, the benefits of community service, having Jesus in your life, and applying God’s Word. He wraps it up by appreciating the fans that have been with him through the thick and thin of his career.
This is it for Bank Statements by Bankole Wellington (Banky W), it’s a 60% for me, if you’re still not sure of whether or not to listen to Bank Statements, here is the sizzling video of the hit track ‘Jo’ below.
Kindly note the buttons below are links to download the entire album from four different websites. Let us know whether or not you liked Bank Statements in the comments section. Don’t forget to subscribe!
Get Our Special Gift!!!
Join our 500+ subscribers to enjoy our premium content. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our special gift!
Banky w is a great artist, the album is full of inspirational content…..I literally listen to it every day.
Thanks for the review.