Royal Ezenwa or ‘The Prince of Anambra’ has he’s fondly referred to in his hometown, is a Nigerian-American vocalist and singer, who’s genre of music he best describes as Afrofusion. His
interest in music began at age 12 when he began to play the trumpet in middle school; it wasn’t
until he got to college before he decided to explore songwriting. This newly discovered passion, fueled with the brilliance of merging vocals over instrumentals helped him flourish and grow his
artistry in no time. After experimenting with different styles, Royal Ezenwa found himself utilising
a half-sung, half-rapped autotune cadence.
Since his first release “WAWU” in 2017, he has delivered an eclectic blend of afrofusion, hip-hop
and dancehall, a recipe that is still evident in his music till date and on his self-styled debut project
“Royal Ezenwa”. The 6-Track project comes in bounty with 2 features including Boy Turn3r and
Oxlade on separate songs. He says he put all his love, tears, frustration, fantasies and endless
lust of emotions into making it happen and it’s quite clear to see, even from the very first listen.
The project takes you through a unique sound experience with soothing vocals, well-crafted lyrics
and beautiful beat compositions.
On ‘Destiny’, the soft tempo opener dripped in percussions and emotions, he leaves no stones unturned as he journeys through his origin, his destiny and his desires. Not all project openers
carry so much introspectiveness these days.
All those feelings quickly turn into lust on ‘Woman’, a humming tale that tells the story of a certain
woman he’s in love with. The drums and bumps, quickly transitioning it into a groovy tune.
“If you’re a fine boy and you don’t have money, go for ugly girls because fine girls are for rich
boys, that is what they mean by life no balance”….These were the words of a certain philosopher
in the intro of ‘Balanci’, an intoxicatingly soothing song specially made for the city boys in search
of inspiration. As the saying goes: ’all fingers aren’t equal”, this point-of-view is what laid the
foundation on Royal Ezenwa’s third track.
If you had ideas since the start of the project, ‘Jonzing’ definitely confirms it. The truth is Royal
Ezenwa isn’t a Rema knockoff, he’s an independent versatile artist who may have been subtly
influenced by the ‘Calm Down’ crooner , but his on his own lane and equipped with unique and
refined features.
Oxlade comes in clutch on ‘I Know’, a track ordained to be a fan favourite. The most striking part
of this song is how two artists with very different styles sync so well that you can almost be sure
they’re a duo. If you enjoyed the thrill and frenzy from ‘Ku Lo Sa”, neither of both artists failed to
bring on their A-game here.
The closing track ‘OVALOAD’ a fast paced gbedu on which he recruits homegrown rapper Boy
Turn3r to give a well deserved closing track that befits the array of solid tunes so far. There’s still a
lot more to discover and be excited about.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EP ‘ROYAL EZENWA’ HERE.
