Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade aka Mr Eazi blew the music scene in 2016 with his slow beat Afropop sound which fuses elements of Nigerian musical elements with some Ghanian vibe. What keeps his music different is the less stress he uses in his vocals judging from the fact that he does not have a high pitched voice. He makes music look so easy to listen to. Coming up with this Lagos to London album declares to the world that he is not dried of good music. Listening to this album makes me remember 6lacks’ East Atlanta love Letter Album because while slack blessed the world with a slow beat hiphop Trap RnB; Mr Eazi blesses us with a slow beat Afropop sound. This album has hits from start to finish and defines the level of creativity that Tosin is working.
One other notable positive of this album is the number of stars featured in this album. Although I am not a fan of having an album with a lots of featured artist; I must say that this album’s featured artist makes real sense. I have always understood after studying many musicians and their music carrier that there is a golden rule to featuring a guest artist in a music. I believe that a good feature is a feature which is made by a men-tee and a mentor. Musician who know what they are doing never feature a star who is below them in the musical ratings. This rule was followed by Eazi and this wonderful album is a proof. Burna Boy, 2Baba, Simisola, Ella Mai and many others are above or in same level with Eazi in ratings and getting them in this album was a smart move. This album will give the world a kind of musical fever because of the beat, the message and the general vibe of the music.
THE THEME
Just like most Afropop and Afrobeat music, this message is centered on women, money and Love. He discusses different feelings, scenarios and issues as it relates with a young man’s life when relating to a lady and making money. “Keys to the city” had him brag to a lady that he has money and because of that he has the keys to the city. He declares that he has the money and the power and will spend it on his family. “Pour me water” which is an old song because he already released it as a single talks about betrayed love. He tells his lady to reduce the pain that she made him feel after calling off their relationship. He begs her to pour him water because he has generated a fever since he heard the bad news of loosing her. In the music “Yard and Chill”, Eazi goes erotica, telling his lady to come to his house on a weekend and go down with him in some good love making.
2Baba or 2face like I love calling him made a guest appearance in this mature love song titled “Suffer head”. This song celebrates the love a real lady gives to his man. Eazi and 2Baba tells the world that they are ready to remain in love with one women. The reason for this stand is because of the love, care, support and good things these ladies has done. Burna Boy sets this album on fire with a beautiful collaboration with Eazi titled “Miss You”. This song discusses the issue of infidelity and how it should not ruin a relationship. Eazi and Burna explain that the mistake of cheating between parties should not become a reason to call it quit on a relation. Chronixx helped Mr Eazi out with his “She loves me” song, adding some patois vibe to the music; telling the world that his lady loves him.
Diplo and Eazi in the music “Open and Close” discusses the issue of lies and deceit that ladies play. Eazi tell a lady he has been trying to get down with to get down with him and stop all the lies and running. He create a personality of a man who was tired of the emotional dribbling the lady was using on him. Giggs and Eazi discusses life in London town as a young man. “Dabebi” has Eazi team up with King Promise and Maleek Berry. They talks about being lonely and needing their lady to be by their side. The other songs all discuss good love and women like the songs analyzed above.
THE BEAT
Mr Eazi’s “Banku” sound which is a slow beat afrobeats sound that fuses elements of Ghanian sounds is dominant in the album. In “Property”, a clear description of this sound is created. This sound has the main kick of the beat dropping in every two bars of music. This is accompanied with different instruments ranging from Triangle, Bongo, cogas, Snares, shekeres and other African percussion sounds. “Banku” sound has one uniqueness to it, and that is the dominance of the percussion when compared to other instruments. There is no way, anyone will listen to this album and not get grabbed by the percussion before paying close attention to the keys, baselines and horn instruments. Songs like Surrender which features Simisola has trumpets adding colour to the sound. The flute used in “keys to the city” is one that has to be applauded. It gives it this kind of Latino feel and groove which can make anyone dance.
The mastering of this album was done in some unique ways because due to Mr Eazi’s pitch and style of music, it could be hard fine tuning his vocal to the beat. With zero noise allowed in Eazi’s music, lots of hours must have been given to engineering this music. All the producers who worked on this album did some good job; from Guilty beats to Cue Beats amongst other who are not mentioned.
Possible Hits and Flops
“She loves me” has a slight potential of being a flop in Africa but will be loved in the Caribbean because of the Reggae content. “London Town” is another possible flop. The rap flow by Giggs was bad and spoilt the song. But apart from “She loves me” and “London Town”, the other songs are possible hits.
“Keys to the city”, “open and close” and “chicken curry” can turn up any party any day any time. “Miss you” and “Suffer head” are songs that could last long in the hearts of people because of the lyrics, beat and personalities in the songs. 2Baba and Burna Boy have a way of making their presence felt in music; leaving a lasting memory.
