Cruel Santino has gone back in time. The Lagos star’s third studio album, K.O.T.B: The Bomberman Chronicles, released on Thursday 5 November, is a prequel to his 2022 album Subaru Boys: Final Heaven, set 3,000 years before the events of that record.
It is also his first album for a new home. Where Subaru Boys came out through Monster Boy and Interscope, K.O.T.B arrives through Native Sounds and Warner Records, and it lands with a run of six singles already behind it.
What is Cruel Santino’s K.O.T.B about?
K.O.T.B stands for Kings of the Bounce. In the album’s story it is the name of a prized series of weapons; outside it, the title nods to the rhythms Santino and his collaborators have built together, according to the release notes reported by Dork.
The narrative follows arms dealers who turn the war against sea creatures into a business, long before humans and creatures learned to live side by side. It is the kind of world-building that has set Santino apart since his 2019 debut Mandy & The Jungle, which helped carry Nigeria’s alté scene into the mainstream, and Subaru Boys pushed it further.
Behind the fiction sits something more personal. Clash reports that the album’s grief was shaped by the sudden death of a close friend Santino lived with in his early years as an artist, and the themes listed for the record are loss, safety, community and the commercialisation of war.
The album opens with “Bomberman”.
The singles that led to K.O.T.B
Santino started the rollout in August with three songs at once: “International Collector”, “Oz.”, a link-up with the Enugu rapper Jeriq, and “Rolen” with Helena Gao.
“Big Drop”, with Zaylevelten, followed in October. Then, on the eve of the album, came two more: “Siesta”, a duet with the Nigerian singer Mavo, and “Heaven is in Pain” with Indi, which closes the record.
Who features on K.O.T.B?
The guest list is short. Jeriq, Mavo, Zaylevelten, Helena Gao and Indi are the only credited features, and every one of them appeared on a single before the album dropped, so Santino carries most of the record alone.
Among the songs heard for the first time on release day are “Stubborn”, “Game of Death”, “Benin Bounce” and “Kentro”.
From Ozzy B to the Bomberman
Born Osayaba Andrew Ize-Iyamu in Lagos in 1992, Santino started out as a SoundCloud rapper called Ozzy B in 2011 before becoming Santi in 2016 with Suzie’s Funeral and the breakout “Gangsta Fear”. “Rapid Fire”, with Shane Eagle, Tomi Agape and Amaarae, took him international in 2018.
More than a decade on, he is still making records that ask listeners to step into a world rather than just press play. Fans in Europe will get the first chance to hear K.O.T.B live: Clash lists a show at Le Trabendo in Paris on Friday 11 December.
Mavo is also on Didi B’s SHOGUN IN LAGOS, out a day later. Read more about Santino on his AfroYard profile, and find all of his albums, from Mandy & The Jungle to Subaru Boys: Final Heaven.
