Mr Eazi might be prepping for the mega release of a mixtape in February, but the quick folks at Alaba Market has already beat him to it.
Eazi who broke through in Nigeria in 2016, was very prolific, releasing over 5 singles, and collaborating with a record number of artistes in one calendar year. 2016 had him also win the Headies, Soundcity MVP Awards and much more.
The singer is planning to drop a new mixtape titled “Life Is Eazi: Accra 2 Lagos”, but while the streets wait for him to come through next month, someone else in Alaba has had the bright idea to cash in on the demand, by creating a mixtape with all of his released songs, including his collaborations with other Nigerian singles.
The Mixtape is titled “Best Of Eazi”, and it is retailed on the streets for N150, but if you drive a hard bargain, you can grudgingly get the vendor to part with it for N100. In Alaba, you can find the new Eazi tape for N60.
The tape was put together by DJ Kentalky, and it is marketed by popular street distributor, Person Entertainment, who brands it as “100% original.” But there is nothing original about it, although it does play on all your systems.
Tracklist for the mixtape has 31 songs, but Mr Eazi has the first 11 tracks. Hit singles including ‘Hollup’, ‘Anointing’ and ‘Skin tight’, are on offer, as well as the hit collaboration ‘Jawonlaya’ with Illbliss. Track 6 has an unreleased Tekno-Eazi joint titled ‘Rara’, although when played, it provides only Tekno’s ‘Rara’. How disappointing.
Pulse reached out to distributors of the CD, Person Entertainment inquire on the business behind the CD, inquiring if Mr Eazi gets a percentage of the sales of his songs on the CD.
He was extremely dodgy, and rude, replying with “Who are you to Mr Eazi?” Upon learning that I am a journalist, he became defensive, and said “If you want to know, come to Alaba International Market.”
When pressed further, he replied: “I cannot tell you journalist anything. I don’t know you, so I can’t tell you anything. Come to Alaba international market.”
Piracy via DJ Mixes is no new development. Before the advent of legal distribution in Alaba, which was pushed by eLDee in 2001, the market which solely delivered electronics, made a killing from selling pirated DJ mixes.
With the advent of the internet age, their powers have been clipped. Digital distribution of music continues to affect their business, and the greed and duplicity of marketers who cheat content providers have constantly been a negative.
But experts are predicting that Alaba’s hold on the industry will end in 2020, as more artistes embrace digital distribution of their content.