Mr Eazi releases The Don short film

A Babs Direction film, the six-minute project, released under emPawa Africa, arrives two months after the release of the Something Else EP, serving as the supporting visuals for the Killertunes and E Kelly-produced lead single of the collection.

‘The Don’ was shot in various locations in Ghana including Cape Coast, Elmina, Dodowa and Aburi. Mr Eazi narrates, stars in and produced the short. The film follows its protagonist’s journey from prison to resuming his place as lord of the city.

“You must think I’m stupid,” Mr Eazi relates in the film. “It's so funny how you talk, that me not being on the scene, me staying on the inside, meant I didn’t know what was going on. You didn’t know I only went in to strategise, to come back even more powerful. You all are just out here hustling. It’s time for you to pay rent. I own this system. I’m the don.”

The film also explores tenets that Mr Eazi considers non-negotiable: “There are a couple of things that are really important to a don, and that is family, respect, trust and loyalty. In fact, loyalty is everything. Sometimes, I would even say loyalty over competence.”

“The song has a very strong presence,’ a producer on the piece, Norbert Dadson told Music In Africa. Mr Eazi himself is a very unique character. He is evolving his brand and this video clearly depicts who Mr Eazi is said to be or is now.”

Dadson added that his expectation for the film is that it will “change the face of music videos in Ghana and we hope that a lot of creators out there will take a cue from the film.

“If you look at the structure, the storyline and detail that Babs depicted in every scene, clearly, you would understand that he’s growing to become a proper filmmaker, and music videos are just a start. That’s what I feel most film directors in Ghana should look at. Because, if we are able to tell stories like this and turn our music videos into subject matters like these, we will be growing faster than we anticipated as an industry,” he said.

Upon Something Else’s release, Mr Eazi revealed that ‘The Don’ set the tone for the EP. “I spent the entire year working on building emPawa Africa and morphing into ‘Don Eazi’. I almost had no time to record. This project was inspired by Kel P and Killertunes, who kept coming to meet me in Accra until I finally recorded ‘The Don’. That opened the door for me getting back in the studio,” he said.

Other songs on Something Else include ‘Love For You’, ‘Cherry’ featuring Kenya’s Xenia Manasseh, ‘Saudi Arabia’ and ‘Ebe Mad’. Spellz, Blaq Jerzee and Jaylon also serve as producers on the release, which is a precursor to Mr Eazi’s upcoming Life Is Eazi, Vol. 3, his first full-length offering since 2018.

Meanwhile, Mr Eazi’s singles ‘Leg Over’, ‘Decline’ and ‘Operator’ were earlier this month certified silver in the UK after selling more than 1.4 million units.