""Big Daddy" is the slickest Nigerian pop song of the year. In under three minutes, Tems' kiss-off is breezy and poised as she throws jabs at her ex: "No ambition, he's a loser." If that weren't enough, she wields the titular pet name against him, clowning on his familiar switch-up from all-demanding Lothario to pathetic beggar boy ("What's the deal, daddy?/Big daddy, jump for me.") Consider this the flip side of " Love Me JeJe." This time, it's all resentment."
"What makes "Big Daddy" so potent is its incorporation of 3-step, a style of South African house music that bridges amapiano and AfroTech (its defining feature is three quarter-note kicks). While other fusions of 3-step and Afrobeats have simply slapped on the drum pattern or stripped the genre of its booming presence, "Big Daddy" makes the kicks feel crucial at the higher BPM, like Tems is standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot in annoyance."
Tems' "Big Daddy" is a sleek Nigerian pop kiss-off recorded in under three minutes that taunts an ex for lacking ambition and shifting from all-demanding Lothario to pathetic beggar. The song flips the mood of "Love Me JeJe" into outright resentment while using the titular pet name as a mocking refrain. The production centers South African 3-step, marrying three quarter-note kicks at a faster BPM with lithe, syncopated log drums and sumptuous textures. The rigid, insistently placed kicks create a tapping, annoyed pulse while dreamy log drums add sultry contrast, signaling fed-up confidence that still feels glamorous.
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