Thankful is the fourth studio album by Nigerian singer Flavour. It was released on 14 November 2014 by 2nite Entertainment as a surprise, and features guest appearances from Chidinma, M.I, Wande Coal, Selebobo, and Phyno. Its production was handled by Masterkraft, Selebobo, Del B, MJ, and Fiokee. Thankful was supported by the singles "Wake Up", "Golibe", "Ololufe", "Wiser", "Dance", and "Mmege Mmege". The album serves as a follow-up to his second studio album Blessed (2012).
The album opens with "Keneya", a gospel-inspired thanksgiving song. "Ololufe", a duet with Chidinma, blends Yoruba and Igbo lyrics in a mellow love ballad. "Dance" is built on classic highlife guitar rhythms, while "Orinado" takes a smoother tempo. The Wande Coal-assisted "Wake Up" incorporates makossa influences, but was criticized for its energy and being described as "noise".[1][2] "Golibe" is an Igbo love ballad, and "Wiser", featuring Phyno and M.I, combines highlife with hip hop in a reflection on heartbreak. "Nwayo Nwayo" contains funk and disco elements, while "Nwanyi Mbaise" is an electro-pop and highlife fusion. "Mmege", featuring Selebobo, presents a celebratory highlife track and "Special One" adopts a reggae style. The album also includes tracks with sensual themes such as "Sexy Rosey" and the closer "Pick Up Your Phone".[3]
Singles
The Masterkraft-produced "Wake Up" featuring Wande Coal was released as the album's lead single on 5 September 2014. The music video for "Wake Up" was directed by Clarence Peters, filmed on the streets of Lagos during the early morning hours.[4] The album’s second single, "Golibe" was released on 1 December 2014. Its accompanying music video, also directed by Clarence Peters, features an alternate audio mix from the album version, and stars Flavour searching for his love interest, played by Anna Banner. The video contains a cameo appearance by Pete Edochie.[5]
The Chidinma-assisted "Ololufe" was released as the album's third single, alongside its music video on 10 February 2015. "Ololufe"'s music video was filmed in Cape Town by Godfather Productions, and attracted attention from a scene where Flavour and Chidinma kiss, which led speculation about their relationship. Chidinma later dismissed the rumours in an interview with HipTV.[6][7] The album's fourth single, "Wiser", was released on 22 October 2015. features M.I and Phyno, and was produced by Masterkraft. Its accompanying music video was directed by Clarence Peters and explores the theme of infidelity from the perspective of a woman as the unfaithful partner. Flavour explained that he wanted to challenge the conventional portrayal of cheating, which is usually shown from the male perspective.[8] "Dance" was released as the album's fifth single on 1 April 2016. The Clarence Peters-directed music video for "Dance" has been said to bear resemblance to the music video for Justin Bieber's "Sorry.[9] The sixth single, "Mmege Mmege", features Selebobo and was released on 28 June 2016.[10]
Ayomide Tayo of Pulse Nigeria praised Thankful for its mastery of groove and rhythm, Flavour's ability to modernize highlife while keeping it authentic, and his willingness to experiment with love songs, reggae, and pop influences. He concluded that "Thankful is a strong, vibrant album composed by a master of the flavours of music", and rated it a 4/5.[1] Wilfred Okiche's review mainly praised the first half of Thankful for its feel-good factor, and for highlife tracks like "Orinado", "Sexy Rosey", and "Ololufe", and highlighted "Wiser" as the album’s peak, where Flavour delivered a touching and soulful performance, but he found the second half dragged on and less engaging, making the album feel overly long despite its vibrant opening. Okiche concluded, "Thankful is an album from a successful artiste who has lost plenty of his hunger and with his slumming days far behind him, fancies himself too big to bother."[2]tooXclusive's Jim Donnett praised Thankful for Flavour’s consistent talent and standout tracks like "Ololufe", "Orinado", "Wake Up", and “Wiser", highlighting the album’s danceable highlife, afro-R&B blends, and moments of thoughtful lyricism, while noting some missteps in track arrangement and production. He concluded, “Having said, Thankful is a keeper with a fine selection of tracks that will grow on you as time passes. You'll eventually get to appreciate it but just not yet, sadly!” and gave it a 3/5.[3]
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