On his most recent EP, LOST, Afropop artist Shirazee takes listeners on a sonic journey that describes his own peripatetic background. Born in Benin, he’s lived in Ghana, Paris, South Africa, Atlanta, and New York City – learning six languages along the way. He’s channeled his well-traveled experiences into a sound designed to make Afropop accessible no matter where you come from.
The following has been lightly edited.
What are some of your current influences?
Foreign movies are some of my current influences. I am going down a serious rabbit hole and I enjoy how it’s impacting my creativity. I binge and then I start dreaming of doing big things with small budgets like how most of these movies were created.
What are some of your all-time influences?
Some of my all-timers: Outkast, classic Motown, and Michael Jackson.
What’s the most overrated right now?
Grits. It is the most overrated dish ever – I know I’m going to get killed by my American brothers and sisters for this – very overrated.
What’s the most underrated right now?
The Pandemic. People are partying carelessly and doing too much for how vicious this virus is. I wish people took the virus as seriously as they take their grits.
What are you most excited about right now?
I’m most excited about my new EP, LOST. it’s fire and I can’t wait for every single human on earth to hear it. Yes, I’m that excited about it.
What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
My gratitude to be this lucky to do what I do for a living. I consider myself one of the lucky dreamers out here and I get out of bed like I still haven’t done a thing. Chasing all my dreams makes life fun and worth living.
Bonus Question: You’ve lived all over the place and on three different continents. How has this nomadic existence influenced your music? What are the biggest musical differences between all these different places?
Yes, three different continents and you can hear it in my sound. The African in me likes the drums to hit hard in the chest, the Euro influence is in the pop melodic choices I make, and the American influence is how to mix all those things just like a melting pot.
