NONSO AMADI CHANGES THE TONE WITH BOLD LOVE LETTER TO HIS HOME COUNTRY IN NEW TRACK “EASE UP”
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CHOSEN AS PART OF ‘VEVO DSCVR ARTISTS TO WATCH CLASS OF 2023’ ALONGSIDE EMERGING SUPERSTARS LIKE ARMANI WHITE, ICE SPICE, GLORILLA AND MORE
VEVO DSCVR PERFORMANCE VIDEO FOR “EASE UP” RELEASED TODAY
RECENTLY COLLABORATED WITH SAVANNAH RÉ ON “CLOSURE” REMIX
20 JANUARY 2023 (TORONTO, ON) –On the heels of being recognized as part of the ‘Vevo DSCVR Artists To Watch 2023’ list, Nonso Amadi charges into the new year with new music. Today, the globally acclaimed, Canada-based Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer shares his astute new single, “Ease Up,” through Def Jam Recordings stateside and Universal Music Canada (UMC), offering the opportunity to strategically focus on a range of key global markets, including his native region in Nigeria.
Nonso worked on production for “Ease Up” with Harper Gordon and TJ Whitelaw. The song is a departure from Nonso’s usual romance laced releases, redirecting his affinity toward his home country. In a way the track is a love song for Nigeria while touching social issues, with lines like, “them leaders no dey care for us, their politics is more important.” “Ease Up” brings light to the tension between the opinions of individuals and the function of the government, a challenge that Nonso recognizes in his homeland yet resonates globally. Nonso describes, “‘Ease Up’ is a reflective song speaking about some of my experiences back home and the struggles of the average Nigerian youth based on issues with police harassment, day-to-day traffic in the cities, and the disproportional wealth gap between the average Nigerian and politicians. Among all this, we just want to chill, relax, and have a good time - Ease up.” That message is echoed sonically, paying homage to tantalizing African instrumentation weaved seamlessly into soulful R&B.
“Ease Up” continues to build on the momentum of a monumental 2022 for Nonso Amadi, between being featured on Amazon’s The New Black Playlist, making the top of the list for Audiomack Africa x The Beat “Alte Vibes”, and surpassing over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Across the three singles released last year Nonso cemented himself in the vanguard of the next generation artists bringing Alte, Afro-R&B to the international stage; his epic return with “Foreigner,” then “Different” (With Majid Jordan) an alliance that garnered over 10 million global streams and finally “Eye To Eye” which garnered features from UPROXX, MTV, COMPLEX and more. Most recently, the SOCAN Foundation announced Nonso Amadi as one of the winners of the SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards alongside Adria Kain, AHI, Desarae Dee and Zach Zoya.
Nonso Amadi capped off last year with the announcement that he had been selected to be a part of the ‘VEVO DSCVR Artists to Watch 2023’ list alongside emerging superstars poised to make an impact this year including Armani White, Ice Spice, GloRilla and many more. Nonso is the first domestically signed UMC artist to be selected for this prestigious program. The VEVO DSCVR performance video for “Ease Up” is released today, watch it here and watch the previously released VEVO DSCVR performance video for “Foreigner” here.
LISTEN TO “EASE UP” & WATCH THE VISUALIZER HERE
WATCH THE VEVO DSCVR PERFORMANCE VIDEO FOR “EASE UP” HERE
Last week, Nonso Amadi upheld his collaborative spirit, releasing a remix with two-time historic JUNO Award winner Savannah Ré of her track “Closure,” listen to the remix here. Collaborations like this and with Majid Jordan are essential not only to fueling Nonso’s creativity but are instrumental in continuing to spread the Afrobeats genre globally. Expect many more dynamic collaborations in 2023 as Nonso Amadi gears up to release his debut album.
Photo credit: TSE
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ABOUT NONSO AMADI
Beginning his musical career while studying in Nigeria at Covenant University and then Swansea University in the UK. Nonso Amadi transformed into a sonic-globetrotter after his move to Canada - leading him to fuse the soul & rhythm of African music with modern soft textures of R&B. With an affinity for contemporary R&B, Nonso developed a desire to explore North America and Africa in equal parts – citing Toronto-native Drake’s genre-hopping capability as an inspiration for his own creative fluidity. Nonso’s music is powered by borderless infusions and intention. “I really loved Mary J Blige, Brandy, Wyclef Jean, Paul Play. I love R&B because it’s slow enough to allow you to feel,” he says of his early experiences with the artform.
Nonso’s refreshingly honest yet tranquil approach to music has allowed the likes of Juls, Santi, and Odunsi The Engine — the latter of whom he collaborated with on the War EP’ — to entrench his arrival across Nigeria and the continent at large across the late ‘10’s. With over 100,000+ million streams across platforms, Nonso Amadi refuses to be the typical straight A-student stereotype. Instead, he stands tall as a constantly evolving, textured lyricist able to translate Alte, Afro-fusion and hip-hop into his R&B-canvassed approach to storytelling, best represented on his last EP Free (2019), which features Afrobeat’s heavyweights Simi and Mr Eazi.
In 2019, Nonso made the conscious decision to step away from social media and paused the release of music — all to take a deeper dive into his artistry and separate from noise and distraction. Unaware of the global pandemic looming, Nonso’s time to cleanse and create was stretched into a longer hiatus. Nonso gears up for his debut album, with the support of Universal Music Canada, Def Jam, and an international team — the now 26-year-old, Nonso Amadi is determined to shed even more of his creative-skin. “I want listeners to hear this next project and know who I am and what I’ve gone through. I want to make great songs that tell my story.” Nonso Amadi is proudly represented by his management team; Jade Busola and Quiet As Kept (Trung Hoang, Gavin Sheppard).
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