Nigerian pop singer Mr Eazi is having the best run in Nigerian music – maybe third to Wizkid and Davido.
His debut tape Accra to Lagos was a breath of fresh air as it introduced a new vibe -the controversial Ghanian and Nigerian fusion- that soon caught fire to become the official Nigerian pop sound for 2017. Within a few months, the wave of the 14 track tape traveled beyond the leaps and bounds of Africa thereby earning the Banku singer the title of the biggest selling Nigerian artiste in the UK.
Mr Eazi was also announced as Apple’s Up Next Artist – a feature that bought him a free ticket to perform at the Late Late show with James Corden.
Mr Eazi was having a smooth 2017 until he landed on the wrong side of Nigerians for shading Nigerian singers during an interview on UK’s Capital Xtra, asserting that a handful of them (Nigerian musicians) were copying his formula- blend of the aforementioned Ghanian Highlife fused Nigerian Progressions].
Nigerian music lovers went into a blow out over the singers claim. ‘He is an ungrateful fool’, one NET Instagram follower insisted. ‘We Nigerians made him who he is today how can he disrespect Nigeria and Nigerian musicians like that?’ another follower questioned. The spats were endless and for a fact, Nigerians were truly displeased as many have vowed not to support the singer anymore.
Truly, Mr Eazi is an ‘international star’ because Nigerians embraced him. Some might decide to attribute his success solely to some personal factors like hard work and consistency; but hard work is never enough – only love and genuine public support can catapult one to the heights that Mr Eazi has attained in a one year space. As soon as he was announced a member of Wizkid’s Starboy imprint, Nigerians welcomed him with both hands and the support he received from Nigeria is what served as a catalyst to his meteoric rise to prominence.
Mr Eazi has since been on a peace keeping mission to restore the love and loyalty of Nigerians.
A few days after incurring the wrath of Nigerians, Mr Eazi announced that he would be donating 10% of the proceeds from his London festival to victims of the devastating flood that plagued Benue state, Nigeria. The singer has also made other seemingly reconcilliation attempts but Nigerians are still not having it.
Mr Eazi is expected to release a new project in few weeks and there is still an obvious uncertainty of how the Nigerian populace will respond to the project.
Can Mr Eazi stay afloat without the backing of his parent audience? Can the support he is currently getting from the UK sustain him though out his intended stay?
That remains to be seen.
Source – TheNet
