I thought loving was like coding
Break it, fix it, push, repeat…
The spoken word rewards attentive listening. While listening to Nnanna Egwu’s, For the Record, I found myself returning to the lyrics to appreciate the layers of metaphor and meaning.
For the Record is a thirteen-track album released on the 1st of August 2025, alongside the artist’s debut book bearing the same title. Four of the tracks feature other spoken word artists: Dike Chukwumerije, Amarachi Attamah, Godzniel, and Name Tilahy.
Art often demands classification. We want to know whether it is romance, socially conscious, religious, or speculative. For the Record resists classification, touching as it does on patriotism, faith, love, cultural pride, masculinity, family, Nigerianness, work. Nnanna probably poured all of himself into its making.
Of course, “Two Turtle Doves” is one of my favourite tracks. A popular love plot of our time where there is a dissonance between ambition and presence. The track features Name Tilahy in a man-versus-woman conversation. As one who adores metaphors, the use of “programming language” in this track impresses me. It is one of the tracks that send the listener to look up some of the terms used. But even without knowing the actual meanings yet, the impact is not lost. It cracks your heart a bit and then soothes it. The computing sounds in the background create an ambience for its symbolism.
“They said the heart has no Operating System
But I ran yours on mine: no firewall, no test”
The “Trojan dressed like a man” says, “Remember our shared folder?
You gave access, I changed permissions
Locked out when your needs didn’t match my mission.”
The soothing part comes in Tilahy’s lines:
“I did love you and I am proud of the man you’re becoming
…and hope like Adele
That I find someone like you.”
“Broda Joseph” ambushes the listener with its casual title. You are confronted by its intertwining of masculinity, loneliness, and survival. You think of the boy child and the grown man: “innocence lost but found in competition.”
When it gets to these lines:
“We were boys trained for war
Released into peace with no manual or cue,”
You pause and playback. You imagine it literally and by application, for this metaphor is as effective as truth because it is the truth – jarring, uncomfortable, and ugly.
And as if that is not enough, he delivers the last punchline that squeezes your heart and takes your peace away:
“Our heroes never came to the rescue
So now, we are becoming them
We are becoming Heroes”
It’s “10 0′ Clock.” But ten o’clock might just be another way to say time. This is one track you may never get enough of because you might never get all of it. It is hard to isolate lines and analyse them separately–images and meanings flow into each other, become each other. Collaborating with Godzniel in this track is an act of brilliance in itself. The featured artist brings as much depth as the main artist, makes poetry a narrative, and has you holding on to each line so you don’t get lost in the next. This is the track you listen to when you want to get reflective – spiritual without a religious grip, sober without being depressing.
As an Igbo woman, “Dozens & 20 Pounds” speaks to me differently. It takes me to a place and brings a time to me. It reminds me that “Our story did not begin in war.” And when I hear that “We cannot inherit only wounds when we have already inherited wisdom,” I write it down immediately. It is a line I’ll remember often.
Amarachi Attamah begins her rendition and I have goosebumps like when I hear ọja: “Igbo dịka anwụ, Igbo dịka ala, Igbo bụ oke ikuku, Igbo bụ osimiri ataata. Igbo bụ amamiihe, Igbo bụ mmụta.” My cultural pride has just been fanned.
The production of For the Record boasts of excellence. The writing and delivery are skillful. I could only spot some pauses in the rendition of “Dozens & 20 Pounds” that made me think the lines of that track may not have been thoroughly rehearsed. The sound production speaks class (pro tip: listen with a headset for the best experience).
There are thirteen tracks, but I have discussed only four of them in this review. You can listen to the entire album here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2eRhrUOUUj4ToUyKetq3wT?si=9LG6wedjSty338uV_wjvbw