For Mr Eazi, life has indeed come easy with the recent deals and recognition, but has it always been like this for the Banku Music CEO?
Mr Eazi recently announced the signing of a licensing deal with international platform, Columbia Records, UK, adding to an increasing list of career successes and accomplishments.
The deal comes days after it was revealed that his record label, Banku Music had penned a licensing deal with Universal Africa, following in the heels of his artist deal with Mad Decent, a label owned by international disc jockey, DJ Diplo of Major Lazer.
Every social media post by Mr Eazi these days either comes with an image of a deal being signed, snippets of him recording his forthcoming album or enjoying a cruise with his girlfriend, Temi Otedola.
The images all capture a young, happy, fulfilled and love bugged artist, but has this always been the case with Mr Eazi?
Just last year, the singer came under the wrath of Nigerians when he declared that he was the one who introduced Nigerians to the Ghanaian sound, voicing his opinion on how music from Ghana has plenty influence on the Nigerian sound.
All that, like they say is now ‘water under the bridge’, as Eazi has kept his game face all through the period of his social media trial, responding with the right media moves and is now set to light up the scene as he concludes work on his follow up project, Lagos To London.
Here are seven things that has worked in the favor of the Banku Music CEO so far
1. His unique sound
There were many before him and there will probably be many after, but like Neo in Matrix, Mr Eazi is the chosen one who has found the right balance to this cross cultural sound.
I remember returning from a long trip and sitting tired in the not too comfortable bus, the speakers gave way to the sound of Mr Eazi’s Skin Tight and immediately brightened the mood of the co-passengers as they hummed along to the tune leading me to google the source of the song, because it had the healing therapy required at that moment.
Heavily inspired by Ghanaian Highlife melodies with an infusion of pop, Mr Eazi on songs like Holl up, Anointing and Pour me water went against the gods of fast paced, high bpm sounds and emerged in a glory of distinct and appealing music.
2. The Ghana/Nigeria influence
Mr Eazi is a Nigerian, 100%, at least his name, Tosin Ajibade confirms that, but having stayed in the other western part of Africa, where he lived and schooled for years, this help shaped his formative steps as an artist.
As an upcoming act, Mr Eazi worked with the likes of Fuse ODG, rapper EL and X O Senavoe, developing his craft, experimenting with the sounds and culture from both sides and tapping from the inspiration that the high life vibe in Ghana offered him.
In a way, this is a classic case of an artist that benefited from the best of both worlds.
3. The young man actually understands this music business.
It is not by chance that as the likes of Wizkid and Davido are breaking grounds internationally, Mr Eazi has strategically placed himself not too far off from the leading duo.
Last year saw him focus his sights on the international scene, touring and expanding his brand to a new set of audience which led to him becoming the second Nigerian artist after Majek Fashekto perform on the popular late night show with James Corden after he emerged as Apple Music Beats 1 Up Next Artist.
Critically also, he understands what it means to assemble the right team and input data and analytics in channelling the target audience of his sale and marketing as revealed in a BBC post earlier in the year.
The art of releasing music in the modern age.@mreazi‘s team did their research. ? pic.twitter.com/eH44EPIhe3
— BBC iPlayer (@BBCiPlayer) January 29, 2018
4. His relationship with Wizkid, deal or no deal?
While for months many speculated that he had been signed to Wizkid’s Starboy imprint, even though the singer has now revealed that he was never offered a proper offer, the affiliation was one that helped his profile back home.
At the point, Mr Eazi was gradually seeping through the pores of a music industry that was fully under the grasp of the likes of Wizkid and a cosign which he announced via a tweet after his performance at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2016 helped in a little way to raise the excitement around Mr Eazi and get more people curious about his music.
5. Taking us on a journey from Accra to Lagos
At the end of the day, it is all about the music and who is going to deny that from the track 1 of his breakout EP, Leg Over, which went on to become one of the biggest songs in 2017, Mr Eazi successfully delivered sounds from the other side to the motherland.
Other singles like Tilapia, Short Skirt and Life is Eazi also highlight moments that fully shot him to fame.
6. His ‘left of the curve’ love story
No one, absolutely no one saw this coming, but after months of sound-bites, speculations and gossip, it finally became official, Mr Eazi and Temi Otedola, daughter of Nigerian business mogul and businessman, Femi Otedola were an item.
Now if Nigeria was a place were numbers are properly tracked, it’s pretty certain his album would have spiked higher curves on music charts as this generated a frenzy that the ‘couple’ have constantly fueled with timely release of pictures and videos sharing fun moments in different cities across the world.
7. Bonding with fans on social media
Before the tide of the current of love turned against him, Mr Eazi was a darling on social media as he tapped in the intimacy of the various platforms to connect with his fans more closely.
Constantly active, the singer engaged his fans with updates, replies, personal photos and song teasers.
Even though he now sticks to Instagram these days, where he has over 1.2million followers, he has been able to build a fair number of ride or die followers that have also helped his career rise.
Source: News Agencies
