The ultimate goal of any musician would always be to deliver that body of work with which they would be forever remembered for. Global music legends always have that one or two maybe three (which would be genius) album(s) which are highly regarded as all time classics.

At the moment all that has changed, the current dynamics of the Nigerian music industry doesn’t run on Albums any longer. All a Nigerian artist will ever really need these days is a sound and robust single and he or she is made. The appreciation for a well thought out and executed album has dwindled as the days go by. This rather pathetic state of the music industry has dampened our favorite musicians appetite to churn out albums.

Perhaps the fans are to blame or our exposure to the Internet and all its pheriperals. The attention span to songs (singles) are short and a lot shorter towards an album. On the flip side, our musicians are also culpable for fans lack of interest in their LPs because most come out as hasty without much creativity applied. 

In the reality of things, it is no surprise Nigerian artists now embrace putting out an EP (musically known as ‘Extended Play’ – a composition of more than just a song but substantially less than an album). It really seems like everyone is waking up to it as a bridge between churning out random singles and dishing out an LP.

EPs are now the new drugs, especially soothing to our short span of attention than monotonous albums. EPs are the new quick fix. At the moment fans respond positively to these ‘quick meals’. Some of our top musicians are exploring its power and its works.

The album culture in Nigeria maybe dying a slow death but then there is a resurgence of the ‘Extended Play’. Our favorite musicians have suddenly woken up to its power and hence are putting it into good use. Why is that?

• An EP makes for a good warm up project for an LP.
• It is significantly shorter than an album hence monotony is easily eliminated.
• It is useful for experimenting with different sounds of music.
• It’s overall less expensive and time consuming than an album.

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