SWAGG NEWS AFRICA: Naija Music, Part II : It's Mr Eazi.

Mr Eazi is another Nigerian artist who is making his presence felt on the world stage. Both he and Wizkid, whose record label he is signed to (and who was the subject of the first part of our three part feature) can rightfully claim the credit for popularizing modern West African music...

2017 has only just gotten underway, but already Mr Eazi has recorded his first EP, 'Life is Eazi Vol 1: Accra to Lagos', filmed the video for it's first single, 'Leg Over' in London, UK, and embarked on a world tour (so far performing two dates in America at the world famous SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, and the Playstation Theatre in New York.) Further dates are scheduled across the 20 countries where his music is most streamed. These include England and the Ukraine.

This busy schedule is a natural continuation of the pace he set for himself in 2016, which brought him great success: he had a number 1 single on Apple music with his and Eugy's collaborative track, 'Dance For Me' (which got over 3 million streams on spotify, 8 million streams on YouTube and over 1,000 dance video submissions from fans on social media.) He headlined five Ghana Independence shows in the UK at locations including London & Liverpool, was handpicked by Lauryn Hill to perform at her and Tidal's “Diaspora Calling” event, and put 3 awards in his trophy cabinet; Best New Artist at the Soundcity MVP Awards, Next Rated Artiste at Nigeria's 'Headies' and Artiste of The Year at the 'Top Naija Music Awards'. He was also nominated for Best African Act at the UK's MOBO's (Music of Black Origin). Due to his unique and vibrant fashion sense, he has even been the subject of a feature in America's iconic “style bible”, 'Vogue' magazine.

The popularity of African artists is particularly strong in London, England, where they have been championed by radio stations such as Capital Xtra and BBC1Extra with their urban/dance/afrobeats shows. At the time of writing this article, Capital FM UK's website shows Mr Eazi at #2 in the Afrobeats chart with 'Leg Over'. (Davido is ahead of him at #1 with 'If', and Wizkid is at #4 with 'Sweet Love'.) And that is undoubtedly why Mr Eazi chose to film the video for 'Leg Over' there. London has a large African population who have forged their own musical genres and styles, based on some of the same influences as Afrobeats music. So, as the Afrobeats artists have become more widely played and listened to, many urban UK acts are collaborating with them and adapting their own sound. This is helping to put artists like Mr Eazi on the map.

In an interview with Complex UK, Eazi noted that “The funny thing about it is, my music first broke in the UK, then Ghana before it got to Nigeria. So there was a diaspora appeal for my music elsewhere before it got back home. The kind of records I was making for this project were global sounds because it wasn’t just based on my African influences but on all the places I travelled to.”

Despite being based in Ghana and embracing it's musical style, Mr Eazi is most definitely Nigerian. He was born Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade in Port Harcourt and received his elementary and secondary education in Lagos. He then studied Mechanical Engineering at university in Ghana and started recording music while living there. The pulsating energy of his tracks is stylistically Nigerian, whereas the slow, laid back delivery of his lyrics is very much Ghanian. Listeners will also notice a distinct similarity to contemporary Latin music. This unique fusion of sounds is in a genre all of its own; one which the singer has named "Banku".

The word "Banku" actually refers to a traditional Ghanaian food, as he explained to Vogue magazine: “You eat banku with soup - it has three different flours, so it’s heavy, and it makes me relaxed and tired. The first time I ever recorded a song, I went straight from the banku joint to the studio, so I was sleepy. Some people say I sing like I don’t really care. Like, ‘Yo, bro, are you really singing?’ That’s Banku.” When asked about his unique and colourful fashion sense, he answered, "everywhere I go, Ghana and Nigeria go with me".

His homeland and his adopted country are both name-checked in the title of his new mixtape/album showing both his patriotism and the concept behind the record. “I started recording in Accra and by the end of the year, most of my bookings were in Nigeria, so that’s where I was. I thought, make a mixtape that represents the two cities and my move from Accra to Lagos. I thought it would be good to do this before putting out an album."

Asked about his take on the current popularity of his style of music, he offers some interesting and exciting observations. “Just recently into the new year, I heard a song by Diplo with the percussion bounce of my sound, of Afrobeats. It’s the new reggae dancehall. I feel like its that time for African music. Right about now, you can listen to world music and hear the Afrobeats references. A-list artists like Nas and Beyonce are sampling this music. It’s only a matter until you see more of that in a lot more records and the culture spreads, just like dancehall and reggae. I’m excited.”
With artists like Mr Eazi and his fantastic new mixtape, this is a sentiment nobody can argue with!