Depending on who you ask, the meaning of Echezona’s new record Ényì changes. A fan of the Boston artist might immediately recognize the title as an abbreviation of his community-forward mantra, “every neighbor yields impact.” To someone who speaks Igbo, though — like some members of the city’s Nigerian community — it literally translates to “friend.”
But no matter how you interpret it, the record is a stamp of Echezona’s M.O. as a musician. The Dorchester-raised Afrobeats and hip-hop act released Ényì alongside area producer JPRiZM last month (April 22), offering a vibrant ode to his identity as the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. Bursting with themes of “championing women everywhere, naked vulnerability, community, and love,” as Echezona explains, the project is a labor of love that began in 2019, when he penned the first track “Amazing.”
Now, six years later, Echezona is bringing the record’s messages to the 29th annual Give Liberty A Hand Gala, an event benefitting the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition. The gala kicks off tonight (May 29) at Artists for Humanity, complete with a performance from Echezona. It’s not album release show — but the spirit of the event and Ényì are so similar that it very well could be.
“The mission behind the Give Liberty a Hand event, which champions immigrants all over, is very much in alignment with my upbringing as a son of Nigerian immigrants,” Echezona tells Vanyaland. “That experience is what birthed the melodies and harmonies of this album, and in our culture, we believe in your actions reflecting the family that you came up in. I plan to knock it out of the park, but also speak life into the immigrant ‘neighbors’ from different backgrounds that yield impact in their own ways in a way that reminds them to block their fears and never give up, despite our shortcomings as humans and the challenges that come our way.”
His pride in his family’s story pops via occasional lyrics in Igbo, a “non-negotiable” element of the album, he says, especially because Igbo appears in Afrobeats music less frequently than other West African languages. Included in songs like “Rare” and “Stick Around,” the snippets of Igbo adorn Ényì like intricate details, while keeping the album close to Echezona’s cultural core.
“In the Afrobeats realm of the music industry, you hear the beautiful language of Yoruba intertwined with English in the most popular records,” Echezona adds. “But for some reason, there tends to be a negative connotation with doing the same with Igbo, as if it’s overbearing or difficult to understand. This album is unapologetically owning it, with faith that it will take my Igbo culture towards pop star territory internationally while remaining true to the city of Boston that raised me and helped shape me into the artist that I am today.”
Tune in below.