Nigerian Artiste, Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr. Eazi, is set to launch his latest album alongside an international exhibition of African art he commissioned himself.
The songs on the album have been turned into works of art by one of 13 artists representing a total of eight countries on the continent.
These include the Contonou-based artist Dominique Zinkpe, Edozie Anedu from Lagos and the Texas-based Cameroonian artist, Sesse Elangwe, who is one of two artists to make a work based on the album’s first single ‘Chop Time, No Friend’.
Elangwe’s The Way I See It (2023) is a mixed collage work pasting in headlines from Ajibade’s non-music career and personal life, including his work with Hugo Boss and partnership with the Ghanaian betting company Bet Pawa.
The project is being funded by Choplife IP—Ajibade’s company that was founded to invest in African culture; from music to film.
According to Mr Eazi, the idea for the exhibition, which will travel to Lagos, Accra, London and New York, was created at a time that he was feeling uninspired by his work.
“I was tired of making music,” The Art Newspaper quoted him as saying.
The ‘Patek’ crooner will also be collaborating with the founding director of the contemporary African art fair 1-54, Touria El Glaoui, as the fair hosts the London leg of the exhibition as part of its special projects section this October.
He added that the exhibition will signal his journey into the African art scene as he has collected over fifty art pieces.
The exhibition, which is scheduled for later this year, is expected to double as a listening party.