Mr Eazi knows good beats. Whether it’s a 14-song compilation or, in this case, a five-track appetizer, chances are high that he will deliver something listeners will want to blast on speakers during an outdoor summer party in Lagos (now socially distanced, of course). Since his 2013 debut mixtape, About to Blow, Mr Eazi has consistently explored the space between the musical innovations of Ghana and those of his native Nigeria, pulling rhythms that underline the musical kinship between the two West African giants.
Something Else is a fast-moving but intriguing return after a year spent expanding his label/culture center emPawa Africa, an incubator for African artists to develop, discover, and share new ways of creating music. Coming in at just a little over 12 minutes, it is more experimental than previous releases, detailing old truths and new exploits over classical melodies, while still loyal to its banku/Afropop roots. “E Be Mad,” “Love for You,” and “Cherry” are familiar offerings from the artist who gave us the über-chill “Pour Me Water” and the more vocally agile “Skintight.” Mr Eazi doesn’t wander too far from home as he reminds listeners why they’ve continued to show up for Eazi hits. They make you feel good and, for the music history buffs, they reliably present a new understanding of contemporary interpretations of both highlife and banku. On “Cherry,” his voice moves from a saccharine hook to thinly veiled declarations of sexual pleasure. Kenyan-born Xenia Manasseh adds a pleasant R&B flow to the track in the vein of Tinashe or Summer Walker. Their voices bounce easily off each other, and lend balance to the desires of both sexes.
Eazi is at his boldest and most brazen on fiery opener “The Don,” whose sleek, finely tuned beats lean into dancehall. Channeling the work ethic and finesse of Francis Ford Coppola’s first Don, Vito Corleone, Eazi is brash and ambitious, retelling the twists and turns that come with maneuvering through fame’s glare while working to leave a legacy that’s about more than just music. It’s an electric beginning, enough to make you forget the hollow “Saudi Arabia,” which invokes stereotypes of Middle Eastern opulence to explain how he plans to pamper his lover. Beyond its empty invocation of Arabian Nights-type fantasies, the song lands with a discomfiting thud when you think about the insidious and rampant anti-Blackness in Saudi Arabia, where North African immigrant workers suffer in “hellish” conditions. Geopolitical realities are tough to squeeze into a two-minute song, but it’s hard to think of anything else when the song’s central metaphor invokes a place that is unwelcome to so many.
Something Else has room for the past and future. Mr. Eazi is prescient in his mission to innovate local melodies and tones. While Western influences such as R&B and hip-hop continue to dominate global sounds, he continues to advocate for African rhythms as equal conduits of expression with the range to emote, guide, narrate, and build. Refusing to allow banku and highlife to be fossilized, he reimagines them as vehicles for transformative potential: the old ways paving a path to the new age.
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