Mr Eazi announces release date for new album, shares lead single 'Chop Time, No Friend'

Music superstar, business visionary, and international nomad Mr Eazi will release his long-awaited, decade-in-the-making debut solo album on Oct. 27, 2023. The 16-track album is now available for pre-order here. 

The announcement arrives alongside the release of the lead single Chop Time, No Friend, and its accompanying music video, shot in Dakar, Senegal, by director Allison Swank Owen. 

Chop Time, No Friend is a playful return to the Banku Music sound Mr Eazi pioneered and popularised with his early singles and mixtapes. "Chop Time, No Friend is a very common Ghanaian saying, something you will see written on the front or side of buses," Mr Eazi says. "It means when you are eating, you don’t think about anybody. You are just focused on your enjoyment."

For Eazi, the track’s lyrics are a way to express how he doesn’t let haters distract him from enjoying the fruits of his success. "It is touching on how people chitchat on me, but I am still focused on my enjoyment," Eazi says. "It is a declaration, a celebration of self. I am saying everything I touch turns to gold. You can’t trouble me." 

Chop Time, No Friend was produced by Andre Vibez, the beatmaker behind Rema and Selena Gomez’s Billboard Top 10 single Calm Down, and Ghana’s Killbeatz (Ed Sheeran), a key contributor to Mr Eazi’s breakthrough 2017 mixtape Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1: Accra to Lagos.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO 'CHOP TIME, NO FRIEND'

Allison Swank Owen, who previously collaborated with Mr Eazi on 2019’s "Lagos to London: The Documentary," directed the video, inspired by the incredible creative energy of Dakar, Senegal. "We wanted to feature the fine artists, fashion designers, and everyday activities that make Dakar an inspiring place to be," Mr Eazi said.

While the title of the forthcoming album remains under wraps for now, Mr Eazi has shared the full list of producers who contributed to the project. In addition to Andre Vibez and Killbeatz, these include Kel-P (Nigeria), Knucks (U.K.), Michael Brun (Haiti), M.O.G Beatz (Ghana) E Kelly (Nigeria), Type A (Nigeria), Stikmatik (U.K.), Yung Willis (Nigeria), Nonso Amadi (Nigeria/Canada), Phantom (Nigeria), Beat Butcha (U.K.), Venna (U.K.), KDream (Nigeria) and Mr Eazi himself. 

In a first-of-its-kind fusion of African music and art, Mr Eazi has commissioned a different African visual artist to create a unique, physical art piece to represent each track on the album. For "Chop Time, No Friend," he tapped Sinalo Ngcaba, a Johannesburg, South Africa-based visual artist whose work also graces the cover of Chop Life, Vol. 1: Mzansi Chronicles, Mr Eazi’s new album with his group, ChopLife Soundsystem.  

ABOUT MR EAZI

MR EAZI is a musical innovator, business leader, and philanthropist. As a recording artist, the Nigerian multihyphenate is the voice behind afro-pop hits "Pour Me Water," "Skin Tight" and "Leg Over," as well as groundbreaking collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé and J Balvin, and the creator of Banku Music, a fusion of Ghanaian and Nigerian sounds and culture. A serial entrepreneur, he founded emPawa Africa in 2018 as a talent incubator program designed to accelerate the careers of African artists. Hailed by CNN, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Forbes for its innovative approach to expanding African music’s global reach, emPawa Africa has since grown into one of Africa’s largest independent music companies, with a track record of breaking global stars like Joeboy and Major League Djz. Mr Eazi has clocked over 4 billion streams of his songs across DSPs, making him one of the most streamed African artists worldwide.

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