Levels is the second studio album by South African rapper AKA, released by Vth Season. It is the follow-up to his debut release, Altar Ego. The album was made available a week before its originally announced 8 July release date on 30 June 2014. The album was certified gold on 17 June 2015, selling over 20 000 copies almost 11 months after its release. The album's release was preceded by the singles "Jealousy", "Kontrol", "Congratulate" and "Run Jozi " which features K.O of Teargas. Originally slated for physical release on 8 July 2014, the hard copies of the album were later released on 28 July 2014 due to manufacturing issues. Production was handled by AKA, Ameen, Tazzy from the funk band Muzart, Steve "Sticky" Raphadu, Master A Flat who was also the album's musical director and Vth Season's in-house producer, Tweezy. Guest features on the album include Burna Boy, Da L.E.S, Sarkodie and Mi Casa's lead vocalist, J'Something. Levels peaked at number 1 on the iTunes South African chart a day after its release.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews. While some critics complained about the excessive sampling on the album, most praised the album for its production but felt like AKA did not deliver lyrically. Ayomide Tayo of Nigerian Entertainment Today praised songs such as "Sunshine" and "Congratulate" for their soulful vibes. He also commended AKA for his lyrical content and the direction he took with the production on the album. He ended his review with the closing statement, "AKA has shown that there are levels to this rap thing, and that he is at the highest level. What else would you expect from a king?"
Commercial performance
In July 2015, 11 months after the initial release of the album, Levels was certified Gold by the Recording Industry of South Africa, for sales in access of 20,000 copies. In May 2016, the album reached platinum status after selling 40,000 copies. As of October 2018, it was certified double platinum.
Accolades
Levels has received numerous nominations and has won a respectable number of awards. At the 2014 SA Hip Hop Awards, the album won 4 awards including Best Male, Video of the Year for "Congratulate", and Best Collaboration for "Run Jozi ". The song "Congratulate" had AKA nominated for 3 awards at the Channel O Africa Music Video Awards including Most Gifted Hip Hop and Most Gifted Video of the Year; he ended winning the former. At the 14th annual Metro FM Music Awards, he received 6 nominations and walked away with Best Collaboration for the song "All Eyes On Me". At the 2015 SAMAs, "Run Jozi " was nominated for Best Collaboration, ultimately losing to K.O.'s "Caracara". "Congratulate" was nominated for Kia Record of the Year. The album was also nominated for Best Rap Album; AKA won Best Male Artist.
"Sim Dope" contains a sample of "Loud" as performed by Mac Miller and written by Jeremy Kulousek and Malcolm McCormick. The song also includes a sample of "Mama Afrika" as performed by MXO.
"Sunshine" includes a sample of "Sunshowers" written by Steve Mackey, August Darnell, Stony Jr. Browder, as performed by M.I.A.. It also samples "Sunshower" as performed by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band.
"Congratulate" contains a sample of "Ride" as performed by Harrison Crump.
"All Eyes On Me" contains a sample of "Ngiyakusaba" as performed and written by Brenda Fassie.
