Review: Mykah's The Experimentalist Excels With Groove, Al Use

In this writer’s latest exploits of notable albums from 2025, Nigerian musician Mykah’s The Experimentalist ranks highly as one of the year’s most special albums, not because of its versatile range, notable delivery or progressive Afro-pop musical direction.

And certainly not because of popularity, as it’s still a hidden gem. However, the 11-tracker spin soars as one of the finest demonstrations of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can elevate human creativity and expression.

Produced, composed and arranged solely by Mykah, born Aramide Babalola, with lyrics provided by both himself and his longtime pal Egar Boi, all the vocals in The Experimentalist were performed by AI artistes, created via the Warner Music-backed AI-powered music creation platform, Suno.

The album opens with “Dey 4 U”, an airy Afro Pop tune that sounds like a meld of Kizz Daniel and Oxlade, with a semblance of the former’s scatting and textured flows and the latter’s falsettos and vibratos colouring the song’s entire tonal structure. It’s notable that it feels like a mesh of both superstars, but still rings out with a distinct delivery style that’s pristine to Mykah’s soundscape. It segues into “Pin”, a bubbly Afro Swing/Afro Pop fusion that sounds like a blend of Odeal, Mannywellz and Fireboy. Like “Dey 4 U”, it feels very familiar, yet distinct. Its slow-burn percussion meets giddy guitar formulae keeps it very refreshing for a love bop, ultimately setting the tone for the entire album.

The Experimentalist lives true to its name, as Mykah drills further than just tech-fueled innovation with this exploit; he also dives into diverse soundscapes combining Koffee-styled Reggae in “Rise N Blaze”, with club-ready Naijapiano in “Bamise”, and 3-step Afro Pop in “Fire On You”, to Neo soul in “Free Fall”. The album, thanks to its slow-fast-slow tracklisting, surfs smoothly till the end with a cohesive feel of a variety of sounds.

It’s an adventure down existentialist themes like survival, heartbreak, and love, exciting the listener with its broad range of fusions.

While the album’s composition and tracklisting ensure that each track ties into the romance-life soundscape that Mykah envisions, there are a few standout tracks that somewhat outshine the entire record. From the uplifting soulful melodies in “Born Wild”, to the urban pop-facing fusion in “Pin”, and then the club-starter bop, “Bamise”, The Experimentalist peaks thrice in this album, although still retaining its continuity and sonic storytelling. Altogether, The Experimentalist is a suspenseful, breezy, youthful and uplifting soundscape, soaring with impressive AI-vocals, sonic range, and powerful lyricism.

As an ‘experiment’, The Experimentalist actually shines in its efforts to shift the culture and expand the Afro Pop soundscape, with its array of progressive pop fusions and AI-assisted singing.

Considering the growing rate of early tech adopters across the global youth population, Afrobeats is positioned to embrace wider AI adoption in the music industry. Although Mykah’s AI-exploit still requires original songwriting and production, other AI artistes like Urban Chords achieved fame from their mind-blowing choral remixes of popular Afrobeats songs. While the songs were later flagged down for intellectual property violation, the AI artiste, sound recordings like The Experimentalist have successfully become a blueprint for fusing AI in the music making process.

Overall, The Experimentalist rings clearly as an interesting spin, with profound themes, intimate songwriting, and a diverse range of fusions. It’s a heartfelt romantic soundscape that shines with shock value, creative innovation and a giddy groove. It sits at 7.5/10.

By Benson Idonije