Nigerian Afropop royalty Mr Eazi and producer Dre Skull have announced plans to release the dancehall-driven joint mixtape Yard & Yanga later this year, via Dre Skull’s Mixpak Records and Eazi’s emPawa Africa.

The project roll-out launches with the release of Lambo, a hypnotic bashment banger featuring the unmistakable vocals of dancehall icon Vybz Kartel.

With a title that references both a popular patois colloquialism for Jamaica as well as the Nigerian Pidgin term for showing off, Yard & Yanga is an Afro-diasporic celebration highlighting the long-standing link between West African and Caribbean music.

Years in the making, the mixtape is the result of the long-standing friendship between Mr Eazi, who helped popularise Afrobeats globally through hits like Leg Over and Skin Tight, and Dre Skull, the producer behind some of modern dancehall’s most celebrated releases including Vybz Kartel’s Kingston Story (2011) and Popcaan’s Where We Come From (2014) and Forever (2018) albums.

Mr Eazi and Dre Skull previously collaborated on Sekkle and Bop (also featuring Popcaan), and last year’s dancehall pop single Dance Pon Me.

Dancehall has, quietly, long been an ingredient in Mr Eazi’s sound, dating back to his very first singles in the early 2010s.

“In an alternate universe, I would have been an Afro dancehall artiste,” explained the Grammy-winning Mr Eazi. “This is not Afro dancehall, this is dancehall, but my own interpretation.”

Dre Skull (Photo: Tony Lowe)

Vybz Kartel seems made for a natural collaborator on Lambo, as not only is he dancehall’s most celebrated and popular contemporary artiste, but he also has enjoyed a long-running and fruitful creative partnership with Dre Skull dating back to the now-seminal 2009 single Yuh Love.

“Kartel is such a generational talent and I had no doubt he would bring a special energy to this record and compliment Eazi’s infectious hook,” Dre Skull said.

UK-based illustrator Kione Grandison designed the single’s cover art, a hand-drawn image which takes inspiration from both West African and Caribbean folk/street art, seamlessly tapping into their shared sensibilities.

Mr Eazi (Photo: Matthieu Delbreuve)