Reviews for Two New Liberian Music Videos: Higher by Robert Black Diamond and Bartender by Mr. F Dot A

                                                             Berenice Mulubah | 5/19/2015  11:30am

There is a lot of hustle and bustle to overcome within the Liberian music industry.  From the lack of financial support to finding quality studios, the obstacles are higher than the Nimba mountain.  Nonetheless, Liberian musicians are daily improving their crafts, from the quality of videos, lyrics to the vocals.  Below are the reviews for two new Liberian music videos dropped within this week.

                                                  HIGHER by Robert Black Diamond aka Black 1
                                                              Released on May 17, 2015
                                                                                   

 

There is nothing more influential than words spoken to your circumstances.  HIGHER is a motivational song that inspires you to keep pushing during difficult times.  The chorus of the song has a melody that keeps ringing in your ears even when you are not listening to it.  The audio and visual quality of the video is first-rate.  The story line is 80% convincing.  I was expecting to see more scenes of his struggles.  There are two lines that really stood out, "Higher is the only way I can live," it makes me want to get up and do something positive, "I got my strength from the dusty road," that is just poetic, I love it.  The verses are too short and the song is too long.  The idea length of a song is 3mins few seconds, if it is a dance song, you could push it to four minutes but anything above four minutes is too long.  Higher is a song that I can listen to over and over. The message is powerful.  

 

Higher by Robert Black Diamond

 

 

 

BARTENDER by Mr. F Dot A

Released on May 19, 2015

 

We all have those days that we want to forget.  Picture being in a club at the bar and all you want to do is dance your problems away.  In this song, the writer talks about just that, partying your worries away, if that is possible.  The writer is definitely poetic, most of the lines in the song rhyme. They are catchy.  The beat is groovy and perfect to take you out of a depressing mood into a dance mood.  One thing that caught my attention is the Liberian comedian that is feature in the video.  It is important that Liberian musicians feature famous Liberian models, actors, media personalities, etc in their songs and videos.  It helps uplift the status of the industry.  Lines from the song that will  keep bouncing around in your ears even when the song is not playing, "Bartender, I don't want to remember, double shots of whatever.  No ice, no chaser.  We can party all night long, we can party til the break of dawn."  You will walk away singing those lines. I was disappointed that the actor wasn't credited at the end of the video.  His name should have been displayed at the end.  For a dance song, the length is ok.  Visual quality is good.  Great song. 

 

Bartender by Mr. F Dot A