Vinyl - Mr Eazi - The Evil Genius [Oxblood Red Vinyl]
Tracklist
Description
Mr. Eazi has shared his official debut LP, The Evil Genius. The project follows several mixtapes and EPs, across which the 32-year-old singer has built his signature Banku sound — a blend of his home country’s Afrobeat grooves and the highlife sound of Ghana, where he moved as a teenager. For the past five years, he’s also been running emPawa Africa, a Lagos-based talent agency.
The new project is a 16-track, pan-African affair with production from Burna Boy collaborator Kel-P and Eazi himself, among others. The record hosts features from Angélique Kidjo, Tekno, Efya, Joeboy, Whoisakin, and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Its visual identity is similarly rooted in the continent: Eazi handpicked 13 African artists from eight countries to create pieces that correspond with specific songs on the album.
“I’m happy to finally be releasing this project, after years of work,” Mr. Eazi says in the release. “I had to go through this process to let go of emotions and thoughts that were deep within my subconscious. It’s come together beautifully and meaningfully, aided by art, and I am proud to share it with the world.”
Pre-order the album on an exclusive limited edition oxblood red vinyl that includes a booklet with all 13 original art pieces.
MR EAZI is a musical innovator, business leader and philanthropist. As a recording artist, the Nigerian multihyphenate is the voice behind seminal afropop hits “Pour Me Water,” “Skin Tight” and “Leg Over,” as well as groundbreaking collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé and J Balvin, and the creator of Banku Music, a fusion of Ghanaian and Nigerian sounds and culture. To date, he’s clocked over 4 billion streams of his songs across DSPs, making him one of the most streamed African artists worldwide. A serial entrepreneur, Mr Eazi founded emPawa Africa in 2018 as a talent incubator program designed to accelerate the careers of African artists. Hailed by CNN, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Forbes for its innovative approach to expanding African music’s global reach, emPawa Africa has since grown into one of Africa’s largest independent music companies, with a track record of breaking global stars like Joeboy and Major League Djz. He's since gone on to fund numerous African tech start-ups through Zagadat Capital, his venture capital fund launched in 2021. After spending the last several years focused on business ventures and expanding opportunities for African creatives, 2023 sees Mr Eazi returning full force to his own music, with two new full-length album projects. The first, Chop Life, Vol. 1: Mzansi Chronicles, is the debut album from ChopLife SoundSystem, his new dance music group with DJ Edu, out now. The second is his already critically-acclaimed debut solo album "The Evil Genius".