But for all its refinement and lyrical strength, I am the Blueprint leans into a sonic uniformity that, while sleek, a couple of well-placed collaborations could have cracked open new textures.
By Abioye Damilare Samson
Sonic revolutions often arrive in waves, and the mid-2000s was a period when Nigerian Pop music was undergoing a seismic shift. Afrobeats was expanding its palette beyond the brash hedonism of its formative years.
The Alternative scene was chiseling out its own counterculture that would later be called Alté, and Banky W was laying the groundwork for Empire Mates Entertainment—the label that would introduce Wizkid to the mainstream at the turn of the next decade. Somewhere in the thick of all this, in 2006, Qing Madi was born. And nineteen years later, she released her debut album, I am the Blueprint.
To name your first album The Blueprint is to make a statement—it suggests an intent to redefine and set the standard. For a rising female artiste in the industry, it’s the kind of title that invites scrutiny. But that confidence didn’t appear out of thin air.
In 2023, at just 17 years old, Qing Madi scored her first major hit with “Ole” featuring BNXN—a song that pulsed with the slick assurance of an artiste well beyond her years. Her delicate yet commanding vocals proved she has the potential to hold her place firmly within the league of the young Afro-Pop vanguard.
That momentum carried over into her 2023 eponymous EP, Qing Madi—a concise but striking introduction that positioned her as a generational talent. With the release of the deluxe version in 2024 propelling her to the cusp of a massive breakout, and with a pen that already displays a sharp, confident command of lyricism, it’s easy to see why she has chosen now to release her debut album.
However, the title I am the Blueprint has sparked its fair share of conversations. For some, it’s a bold and necessary statement from a very young artiste determined to shape her own legacy. For others, it feels like a reach—how does a teenager with just two years in the industry claim to be a prototype for anything? The answer, perhaps, lies in the music itself.
As Tupac Shakur once said, “Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real”. Qing Madi lives by this truth. She brings it to life on the album’s opener, “Bucket List”, where she turns her lofty dreams into lyrics. “When I carry Grammy for hand/ When I buy my mummy mansion/ That thing dey turn my body”, she sings with the confidence of someone who already knows what’s coming over a production built on syncopated kick, saxophone, and atmospheric filtered keys.
From the moment the airy guitar strings usher in “Ali Bomaye”, there’s a sense of weightlessness, a sonic glide that mirrors the song’s emotional depth. The song’s core metaphor, “You dey knock me off my feet like Ali, Ali Bomaye”, taps into the weight of Muhammad Ali’s legend, reframing the famed chant as an admission of love’s overwhelming force.
A resounding guitar loop ripples through “Akanchawa”, which sets the stage for her to lay bare her emotions with striking clarity. She steps in as a hopeless romantic, unfiltered and all-in, delivering memorable lines that capture the rush of emotions she refuses to keep bottled up.
That poise extends to “Feeling Alright”, a mid-tempo cut where she swaps sparse instrumentation for lush, full-bodied production. The beat flows with a hypnotic groove while her voice glides effortlessly over it.
The songwriting remains crisp, and packed with reflective imagery, like when she reflects on the grind with, “Be like when we dey hustle for days/ No dey vibe we dey follow our lane”. Her flow and delivery on the Reggaeton R&B-tinged “Damn It All” to the heart-wrenching emotion of “It is a Game”, reveals her fluidity and emotional range.
Over brooding melodies and a groove-driven kick on “Pressure”, she coolly unpacks the weight of resisting old habits: “Don’t wanna go back to what I stopped (yeah), I don’t wanna go back to what I’m begging to let go”.
Love courses through the album in varying shades—aching, intoxicating, elusive. On “Gimme Your Love”, she rides a mid-tempo beat with an intimate yearning and drapes her vocals over plush instrumentation as she sings, “Hey, if you looku my face, oh baby, imagine you next to me”.
That tenderness spills into “Garden”, a pure R&B cut where airy harmonies wrap around the track. There’s a quiet intensity in how she nestles into the pocket of the beat, as if love is something she both surrenders to and clings on to for dear life.
“Goosebumps” is a smoky blend of Afro-Pop and R&B, pushing the same themes of love but draped in darker undertones, and laced with groovy bass lines reminding us that R&B can have you up on your feet. Perhaps, easily the album’s most hypnotic and dance-inducing track, the Semzi-produced “One Day” is built on pulsating log drums and an irresistible groove.
But just as the rush takes hold, she pulls back into the pre-released “Favourite Psycho”, where hypnotic kick meets silky R&B harmonies. She closes with “Right Here”, a vintage slow-burning R&B ballad that feels like a deep exhale. It’s a moment of reflection, a quiet plea to be present, to cherish what truly matters.
Predominantly, I am the Blueprint plays out as the confident statement of a young artiste eager to prove she has all the makings of a star. While there aren’t quite the groundbreaking moments to justify the album’s lofty title just yet, the ambition is unmistakable—much like how Wizkid named his 2011 debut album, Superstar, long before he fully became one.
Even visually, the deep blue hues that have followed her from her first EP to this album cover reinforce a sense of continuity, a deliberate crafting of identity as she sketches out her own “blueprint”.
But for all its refinement and lyrical strength, across 13 tracks, I am the Blueprint leans into a sonic uniformity that, while sleek, a couple of well-placed collaborations could have cracked open new textures, injecting fresh dynamics into the album’s experience.
Many of the songs linger in familiar emotional terrain, revolving around the complexities of love: being taken for granted, or attempting to free oneself from the weight of toxic emotions. Still, as debuts go, I am the Blueprint is a stylish, self-assured statement project—one that soothes, and suggests that the real masterpiece is still in the making.
Qing Madi is only beginning to scratch the surface of her R&B potential, her delivery already refined but still leaving space for bolder and more daring sonic leaps.
Lyricism – 2.0
Tracklisting – 0.8
Sound Engineering – 1.2
Vocalisation – 1.3
Listening Experience – 1.0
Rating – 6.3/10
Abioye Damilare is a music journalist and culture writer focused on the African entertainment Industry. Reading new publications and listening to music are two of his favourite pastimes when he is not writing. Connect with him on Twitter and IG: @Dreyschronicle