Coming on the back of the success of his recently released album and first-of-its-kind art and music fusion experience The Evil Genius, which has been championed by The New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, The FADER, Complex, CNN, The Guardian, Music Week, and The BBC, among others, Grammy Award-winning global music star and afrobeats icon MR EAZI is proud to present the exhilarating new video for uplifting album fan-favourite ‘ÒRÒKÓRÒ’, as featured in Deeds Magazine, featuring five-time Grammy Award winner and 2023 Polar Music Prize laureate Angélique Kidjo, and produced by Mr Eazi’s longtime collaborator and fellow Grammy Award-winner Kel-P (Wizkid, Future, Burna Boy).

Recorded between Accra in Ghana, and Ouida in Angélique Kidjo’s home country Benin, and driven by lush guitar arrangements and percussion drums, ‘Òròkórò’ is a glorious afropop and global music offering that sees Mr Eazi and Angélique Kidjo in a spiritual and grateful mood to kick off 2024, as they offer praises and thanksgiving to God in emphatic fashion. Relying on the emotiveness of their native Yoruba language, which the song is largely performed in, Mr Eazi and Angelique Kidjo masterfully encapsulates the essence of gratitude and divine blessings. As Mr Eazi puts it about the song’s inspiration, “I can’t be quiet about what God has done for me, you can see the love God has shown me”.

For the captivating visuals for ‘Òròkórò’, Mr Eazi and Angélique Kidjo have collaborated with filmmaker Thomas Leloup from French creative collective Minuit/Une to bring the track further to life. Filmed in the enchanting locales of Paris and Forêt de Fontainebleau, the video is a visual manifestation of a spiritual musical, seamlessly blending modernity with legacy. Offering a rich tapestry of spirituality and cultural heritage, the ‘Òròkórò’ video intricately weaves a narrative of history and spirituality, drawing upon the aesthetics of West African traditional religion, and paying tribute to the significant historical site of Angélique Kidjo’s birthplace in Benin – a focal point for West African spiritual culture.

Mr Eazi has created a ceremonial spectacle for his ‘Òròkórò’ video, reminiscent of a ritual, where music and dance intertwine in a profound celebration of heritage and artistry. The artistic direction is profoundly influenced by West African traditional religion, and heavily references feminine warrior power. Throughout the video, Mr Eazi embodies a prophet sharing his message of thanksgiving, while Angélique Kidjo reigns as a queen symbolizing strength and resilience. The meticulous cinematography is a precise, painting-like composition that marries expressionism with a natural aesthetic. The result is a visually striking video that not only showcases the magnetism of Mr Eazi and Angélique Kidjo, but also serves as a testament to the rich spiritual and cultural legacy of West Africa.

ABOUT ‘THE EVIL GENIUS’

Recorded over two years between some of Mr Eazi’s favourite cities including Accra, Cotonou, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, and New York, and released independently to rave reviews from fans and critics alike, The Evil Genius comes on the back of a seven-year career at the top of afrobeats music for Mr Eazi. While his status as one of the giants of modern African music is undeniable, very few artists of his calibre have gone this deep into their career without releasing an album, and so for his first official album, Mr Eazi knew that he had to create something that would go beyond all expectations, including his own. The album is an exciting musical scrapbook that blends afrobeats, afropop, gospel, hiplife, highlife and folklore into a glorious pan-African fusion sound in a way that only Mr Eazi knows how.

With production from an international heavy hitting cast including Kel-P (Nigeria), Michaël Brun (Haiti), Knucks (UK), and Nonso Amadi (Canada), as well as guest artists such as Grammy Award-winning legend Angélique Kidjo, Nigerian star Joeboy, and South African group Soweto Gospel Choir, The Evil Genius is Mr Eazi’s most personal work by far, and it sees him diving deeply into strong themes around love, betrayal, loneliness, and family, expressed through three distinctive movements or acts, throughout the album. The first of these three chapters finds Mr Eazi unburdening himself of the weight of success and fame, followed by a five-song movement about love, with the album ending on a suite of spiritual and deeply resonant anthems that capture Eazi in thanksgiving mode.

Described as a first-of-its-kind fusion of African music and visual art, perhaps the most ambitious and ground-breaking aspect of Mr Eazi’s The Evil Genius is its visual art component, with the album birthing 16 art pieces to accompany each track on the album. Every track on The Evil Genius is represented by a unique physical art piece that Mr Eazi has commissioned from different contemporary visual artists that he encountered while travelling across Africa recording the album. Noting a lack of alignment and collaboration between Africa’s exploding pop music industry, and the continent’s fine art creators, Mr Eazi is highlighting the power of such collaboration by incorporating the work of these artists – representing eight African nations and a continent of aesthetics – into The Evil Genius.

ABOUT MR EAZI

MR EAZI is a musical innovator, business leader and philanthropist. As a recording artist, the Nigerian star is one of the most streamed African artists in the world, with over 4 billion streams, he is also the voice behind afropop hits ‘Pour Me Water’, ‘Skin Tight’, and ‘Leg Over’, as well as ground-breaking collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny. 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 his innovative approach to expanding African music’s global reach, he has grown emPawa Africa into one of Africa’s largest independent music companies, with a track record of breaking global stars like Joeboy and Major League DJz.

Born in Port Harcourt and raised in Lagos, Mr Eazi began his music career while attending college in Ghana. His first-ever recording, made on a whim, became an accidental local hit, prompting him to take music seriously. Blending touches of Ghanaian highlife music and pidgin slang, with Nigerian chord progressions and R&B vocal inflections, he soon developed a mellowed-out spin on afropop, which he dubbed Banku Music, after the popular Ghanaian comfort food dish. Arriving just as afrobeats music was exploding into global consciousness, Mr Eazi quickly became an international sensation, taking Banku Music all over the world. His global travels birthed two acclaimed mixtapes Life Is Eazi Vol. 1: Accra To Lagos and Life Is Eazi Vol. 2: Lagos To London – the rest, as they say, is history.

CONNECT WITH MR EAZI: Instagram – Twitter – Tiktok

MEDIA & PRESS: Please direct all inquiries to Ayo Adepoju: [email protected]