Mr Eazi: The world must be listening to my music before I release an album

Until the “whole world” starts listening to his music, Mr. Eazi says he will continue to release mixtapes and not a full-fledged album.

At a time when there is little difference between mixtapes and albums, the Banku music singer insists all his projects have fallen into the ‘mixtape’ category.

So far, he has put out three mixtapes; About to Blow (2013), Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1 – Accra To Lagos (2017)and Life Is Eazi, Vol 2 – Lagos To London (2018).

MIXTAPES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

In an interview with TheCable Lifestyle, he spoke about his resolve to keep pushing out mixtapes.

Mr Eazi also noted that he is still in the process of discovering his sound.

He said: “For me, I feel like when I drop my album, the whole world has to be listening. We have about 61 countries listening to my music but I feel the whole world has to be listening properly when I drop my album and I really need to find my sound.

“From the last project Accra to Lagos, if you have been following me, you would see that my music has been changing. And on this project, Lagos to London, I am mixing London influences with Naija influences and the next mixtape would be London to somewhere else till I find that sound.

“Besides I want to make music that is valid for the whole world and the whole world needs to be listening when I drop my album, so till then, it would be mixtapes.”

WHERE IS HOME?

Nowadays, Mr. Eazi spends a chunk of his time in the UK, where he is starting to gain a solid fan base, and although he is from Nigeria, the singer identifies with many things Ghanaian.

In recent past, he drew controversy for saying Nigerian music is greatly influenced by Ghanaian songs.

Speaking of where he calls home between London, Accra and Lagos, the Empawa Foundation founder described himself as a nomad.

“Home is where I am at the time,” he told TheCable Lifestyle.

“My family is here in Nigeria. So, the first point of home would be here, particularly in Ogun state, not even Lagos state. But I think I am a nomad, you don’t have a particular home, but you have where you love the most and you keep moving.”

WHAT IS BANKU MUSIC?

Mr Eazi is known for pioneering Banku music, a sound characterised by percolating rhythms and laid-back vocal delivered in Pidgin English.

But the singer says there is more to the new sub-genre he is trying to create.

On what the movement is all about, Mr Eazi called it a mixture of influences.

He said: “It’s like fusion music. So for instance on this project, you can hear me doing a song that is almost reggae. So I have mixed my Afropop or Afrobeats with reggae and it’s not pure reggae anymore. That’s the essence of Banku music, just mixing influences.

Mr Eazi recently cancelled his Trace Live concert which was billed to take place at Terra Kulture.