Afropop superstar Mr Eazi has shared his latest single “Exit,” featuring the iconic South African vocal group and three-time Grammy winners Soweto Gospel Choir. Watch the track’s epic music video, filmed atop South Africa’s famed Drakensberg escarpment.
“Exit,” which follows previous singles “Legalize,” “Chop Time, No Friend,” “Advice” and “Fefe Ne Fefe,” is the fifth drop from Mr Eazi’s long-awaited debut album The Evil Genius, out this Friday, Oct. 27 via the artist’s own emPawa Africa. Pre-save The Evil Genius.
Recorded between Ouidah and Cotonou, Benin; Kigali, Rwanda; Accra and Kokrobite, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; London; Los Angeles; and New York City, The Evil Genius features some of Mr Eazi’s most personal work, as he dives deeply into subjects like love, betrayal, loneliness, and family, expressed through three distinctive acts. Expanding upon Banku Music, Mr Eazi’s distinctive spin on contemporary afropop, the project encompasses an eclectic range of styles and influences, ranging from Ghanaian highlife to grime to gospel.
“Exit” is the final track on The Evil Genius, and the first Mr Eazi recorded for the project. Conceived during a period of inner turmoil and strife, it’s one of his most personal and inward-looking songs to date, but also one of his most triumphant. Begun in Accra, Ghana, and completed in Los Angeles and Johannesburg, “Exit” features a powerful choral arrangement from Soweto Gospel Choir, alongside infectious production from Nigerian beatmaker Kel-P (Burna Boy, Wizkid).
Among the song’s memorable lines is one which Mr Eazi has adopted as his daily mantra: Thank you God for keeping things running smoothly. “When I wrote this song, I was disappointed in everything —the music business, feeling betrayed by my friends,” Mr Eazi says. “But, in the midst of feeling disappointed, I was thankful.”
Such a track required a powerful, statement video that could evoke and capture the song’s underlying sentiment of gratitude. Set atop South Africa’s Drakensberg escarpment, amidst the world’s oldest mountain range, director Allison Swank Owen’s “Exit” video delivers heavenly visuals befitting of the song’s spiritual theme.
In a first-of-its-kind fusion of African music and art, Mr Eazi commissioned visual artists from across the continent to create a unique, physical art piece to represent each of the album’s 16 tracks. Noting a lack of meaningful collaboration between Africa’s exploding pop music scene and the continent’s fine art creators, Mr Eazi personally handpicked 13 artists, representing eight African countries, adding art curator and patron to his already extensive resume of pursuits.
As part of the rollout, Mr Eazi has been inviting the public to experience the music alongside the art at multi-sensory exhibition listening experiences, with the first two taking place in Accra, Ghana and London (where it was part of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair) earlier this month. Additional exhibition locations will be announced shortly.
Samuel Tete-Katchen, a Togolese painter based in Accra, Ghana, created the striking artwork for “Exit,” a piece which evokes DaVinci’s The Last Supper by way of West African folk art, and which he dubbed You Prepare a Table Before Me.
“The first time I listened to ‘Exit,’ it moved me a lot,” Tete-Katchen says. “The way afrobeats blended with gospel, I felt a beautiful spiritual connection to it. It reminded me of the feeling I had as a child when I first listened to ‘Will You Be There’ by Michael Jackson. I wanted You Prepare a Table Before Me to display how ‘Exit’ touched me spiritually… It depicts a king who wants to serve humbly as he’s been blessed by God, opening his heart to the people surrounding him.”
