This is singer’s grand plan to take African music to the world

It’s hard to not respect Mr Eazi and all he has achieved for himself. From his days as an undergrad in Ghana, to his foray into promoting concerts and building tech solutions, he has consistently shown strategic planning.

His conquest in Africa, taking his music from Ghana to Nigeria and branching out to the UK market where a growing and accommodating pop scene has embraced him, have all shown great detail in amplifying the brand and the music. But that’s not enough for him. His ambitions fly higher than a sport in the underground of global pop movements.

“This is something I have actually been talking about — it can only work if you’re simultaneously doing your core music,” he told journalist Phiona Okumu during an interview for. “In terms of pushing the culture of African music forward, the likes of Fela [Kuti] did so much — we are so not there yet. It is up to me to always find a way to represent my culture in whatever I do.”

Eazi is right. Culture has always been a driving force of his sound and branding. His mixtape “Life is Eazi Vol. 1: Accra to Lagos” is a curation of the sonic cultures of two great cities from which he had drawn inspiration to the project. The next plan for his career is to take these cultures mainstream, and strategic partnerships have already yielded fruits.

Since 2016, the career height for talents in Nigeria has been broken. There’s a general air of positivity on ground after Wizkid and Davido inked deals with Sony. The former has released a project with RCA Records, “Sounds From The Other Side,” which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard World Album Chart.

Eazi and Apple Music have an agreement, from which he was made the Up Next artist for the month of August. A performance at the Emmy Award-winning show, The Late Late Show with James Corden, is a part of the package.

"So amazing how the Up Next is coming right at this time as I’m about to drop the worldwide mix for this record and I feel like from now it’s going to be like the introduction of Mr Eazi to the world,” he said.

But the bulk of his strategy is collaboration. Eazi understands the power of making music with more popular inclusive minds who can announce him to their fan base. His boss Wizkid is a huge influence here, serving as a working example of what can be achieved via collaboration. Wizkid had worked with numerous superstars, including Diplo of Major Lazer. Mr Eazi is working with him too.

Diplo has produced a remix for the smash hit record ‘Leg over’. The new release will feature vocals from Hip hop stars French Montana, Tory Lanez, and Wizkid collaborator, Ty Dolla Sign.

"Shout out to Diplo, the remix for this record is dropping this month, any time from now,” Eazi said during his pop-up show on Apple Music’s Beats 1.  “Shout out to Tory Lanez for his verse on this one, shout out to French Montana for his verse on this one. Shout out to Ty Dolla Sign for his verse on this one.”

One single can be the difference between one level and another, but Eazi intends to take this a step further, and perhaps create a project with Diplo, who, as part of Major Lazer, has worked with some of the brightest stars. One of his biggest wins is working with Justin Bieber on ‘Where are U now’. Eazi is considering making a body of work with Major Lazer. Eazi has also had conversations with British singer Rita Ora, and has plans to make a record. But his ultimate goal is Justin Bieber,DJ Khaled and his overachieving son, Asahd.

“Some of the songs like ‘Skintight’ I’m gonna do remixes,” he said. “A short EP of Mr Eazi to the world and have a massive push. It’s crazy how independently we’re doing this shout out to my team shout out to everybody supporting, shout out to the fans. I feel like right now very soon I need to work with Justin Bieber.

“I want to work with DJ Khaled. I'm trying to reach Khaled, Khaled are you listening to this? I need you to come with me to Africa in December. I need to show you something. Shout out to Asahd. Asahd needs to come to Africa.”

The question on many minds is if Mr Eazi has shown enough and consolidated his status in Africa to make the push for a larger market. The answer is nuanced, and polarizing. Depending on where you stand as a fan and consumer of music, you would see and analyse his career based on that. But look, there’s very little harm in trying something. No one wants to be stagnated in their career. Everyone wants growth. For Eazi, his next level is to push for global pop stardom. And perhaps, just maybe, his stars are aligned and things work out right.

We just might be having another conversation.