The story behind the cultural evolution of music from Lagos to London through the eyes of trailblazers from both cities. Mr Eazi still remains one of the hottest independent Afrobeats artists in the music scene; since he began making waves within the music industry in 2016. The music entrepreneur describes his sound as a mixture of Ghanaian bounces, Ghanaian Highlife, Nigerian chord progressions and Nigerian patterns also known to many as a sound called "Banku Music".
At age 16, Mr Eazi relocated to Ghana to further his educational endeavors, enrolling in the mechanical engineering program at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Eazi started recording music during his free time at KNUST. He always thought he was going to be a businessman not a music artist.
Mr Eazi released his 13-track debut mixtape About to Blow in July 2013. It produced two singles: "Pipi Danc" and "Bankulize". The former was released in mid-2012, while the latter was released in 2013. Mr Eazi recorded the mixtape with producer Klu and released it within a week. The mixtape was decribed as a "heavily dancehall-leaning SoundCloud playlist".
When he was 23 years old, he returned to Nigeria and moved into entrepreneurship. All in all Eazi was involved in about six business ventures including soft drinks import, gold mining, and food distribution.
Eazi applied to tech accelerator 440 selling pre-owned phones. While continuing to making music on the side as a passion project.
In August 2015, Mr Eazi released the dancehall-influenced track "Skin Tight". It features guest vocals from Ghanaian singer Efya and was produced by DJ Juls. Later in April 2017 Diddy used ‘Skin tight’ a song of Mr Eazi’s as a soundtrack for one of his Ciroc commercials.
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In 2017, Joeboy (unsigned) released a cover of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You." A friend tagged Eazi in Joeboys video on Instagram.
Eazi called for online demo music submissions from artists across Africa using the hashtag #empawa100. Out of 10,000 entries received from 14 countries, 100 were handpicked and their videos funded at $3,000 apiece.
The top 10 artists got a chance to be part of a 3-week masterclass in South Africa with the mentors including renowned international DJ/Producer Diplo of Major Lazer, UK singer & songwriter Raye, Nigerian producer E Kelly, Guilty Beatz, and Fred Gibbson.
In March, Joeboy released the easy-listening love song “Baby,” which reached the top 10 of Apple Music’s charts in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya. Follow-up track “Beginning,” hit No. 1 on Apple Music in Nigeria and Uganda.
Mr Eazi made his debut at Coachella 2019 over the weekend. Eazi's brought his decked-out Lagos to London live set to the festival.
Mr Eazi launched emPawa Africa, a talent incubation initiative to nurture and support up-and-coming artistes in Africa. Thirty musicians would be enrolled in the first edition and would receive grant and mentorship to scale up their music career with youtube as a partner.
The idea for emPawa was motivated by the need to give back to Africa's music industry says Mr Eazi. "I wanted to be a businessman, I never believed I could be an artist, but people kept telling me I could do it. Given the kind of support I got then, I want to give back," he said
Mentors will include Diplo, afrobeats producers E. Kelly, Juls and GuiltyBeatz, South African rapper Kwesta, Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie, Tanzanian music superstar Diamond Platnumz, afrobeats veteran DJ Neptune and executives from the African music industry, along with Mr Eazi.
The afropop star has collaborated with the likes of Beyoncé (Don’t Jealous Me and Keys to the City), J Balvin x Bad Bunny (Como Un Bebe) and Major Lazer (Tied Up), as well as having performed at the likes of Coachella and Wireless.
“EmPawa is an initiative I created with one simple mission: Helping new artists reach their full potential musically by equipping them with the knowledge and funding to do so,” said Mr Eazi.
“It’s something I wish someone had created when I first started making music. Sometimes, all it takes is that one person to believe in you.