We Speak Music
ZeXzy Returns With ‘Live’ Featuring Versvs
ZeXzy returns with his brand-new single ‘Live’ featuring Versvs. The genre-blending offering infuses pop, rap, and R&B flavorings. With the exception of the saxophone, the motivational and uplifting track was produced totally digitally. His life experiences and struggles with mental health are reflected in the lyrics.
Born and bred in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, singer-songwriter ZeXzy presently resides in Lagos and is signed to Maple Grove Entertainment. He writes music out of a desire to uplift, inspire, and communicate his experience in his own unique way. ZeXzy struggled with anxiety and depression after losing his singing voice at the age of 15, but he eventually overcame these issues and began performing music ten years later.
ZeXzy wrote the song ‘Live’ during a very trying time in his life when he had to decide whether to keep pushing forward and remain optimistic or to give up and simply let go of the dream he had been investing all of his time and creativity into. He truly believed it was about time he reached the pinnacle of the music industry. Unfortunately, this wasn’t occurring as quickly as he had anticipated. He started searching inside himself for the source of the problem, making changes in the hopes that things would get better, but he still didn’t feel connected to where he wanted to be. ZeXzy channeled these feelings of frustration into the track.
Speaking about the single, ZeXzy explains, “LIVE” was an unconscious creation made from an overflowing subconscious mind that was so pained at the time. It was the 16th of February, 2023 and my producer was making beats for a song and I just started singing “I choose to live” on the beat. It sounded nice and everybody seemed to feel its depth, so I picked my phone up and recorded the tune. I had the song written and on the 27th of March, 2023 we started production on the track, and in a few days I recorded it.”
A handful of Versvs’ sentences are actually related to his experience, while others may be an interpretation of how he imagines certain events to feel. or recounting first-hand accounts of other people’s personal encounters. He made the choice to work with ZeXzy because of the variety in his music and the fact that he consistently delivers compelling words in all of his tracks. He is inherently inquisitive, so there was respect for how their ideas and messages might mesh on a track.
Speaking about the single, Versvs comments, “My inspiration for my portion of the song comes from the fact I’ve always been very open and vocal about mental health issues and felt like this was the perfect track to take a deeper dive into one’s mind state when struggling with these thoughts. When I heard Zexzy’s hook, before writing my verse, I could feel the resilience in his voice and the powerful message he was conveying, and decided expanding on that was the best thing to do to create a meaningful piece of art.”
Lastly a statement from Maple Grove Entertainment: “We first came across Versvs when we were planning our major concert in Calgary, AB. As we were looking for opening acts we were turned on to Versvs as he seemed to be blowing up in Canada. As we got to know Versvs and his management team, we really enjoyed their vibe and the way they handled themselves. When “Live” was created it was meant to be a solo song for ZeXzy but we were inspired by the idea of maybe bringing someone in to do a verse in the song to change the tone. Instantly we thought of Versvs. From the moment we reached out, we knew it would be a great partnership.”
This October, Hip-hop inna yardie style (old school fusion between reggae and hip-hop) collective L’Entourloop are set to rock UK stages, with shows in Liverpool, London & Bristol. Their Bristol date at The Trinity Center and their first London date at Village Underground are already SOLD OUT, leading to a second London date being added to deal with the high demand that L’Entourloop’s unforgettable shows create.
The dates will see L’entourloop hitting higher than ever as they perform tracks from their huge back catalogue, as well as their latest 20 track album “La clarté dans la confusion” (“Clarity in Confusion”).
Produced in their now legendary Bandulu Studio, the new album is a result of a patient production process, carried out with care and passion. Throughout the album, L’Entourloop testifies in its own way via a puzzle of film samples, of this strange period that we have just gone through collectively, using all its savoir faire when it comes to make the people dance.
Since 1964, when the song “My Boy Lollipop” flooded the European radio airwaves, L’Entourloop’s love for reggae and its culture has never stopped growing. With this third album, they wanted to pay tribute to the legendary pioneers of this incredible movement – artists and producers such as Tom Wong, Count Machuki, Prince Buster and Lee “Scratch” Perry. An album which is a true declaration of love for soundsystem culture and its children – reggae, dancehall and hip-hop.
The success of their previous albums “Chickens in Your Town” (2015) and “Le Savoir Faire” (2017), with their famous “Banging Hip-Hop Inna Yardie Style” quickly brought L’Entourloop into the spotlight, along with their hundreds of shows performed all over Europe. The mysterious collective continues to bring together an ever-growing audience around the world, as proved by their hundreds of millions of plays on music platforms.
True lovers of vinyl and old cinema, in their perpetual quest for the ultimate sample, the insatiable diggers kept their fans waiting by first dropping the excellent DJ-Mix “Start From Scratch” in the summer of 2021, followed by a series of 3 official remixes, including the Reunion Island anthem “Li Sem”.
Another striking characteristic of L’Entourloop is the great ability of King James and Sir Johnny to gather incredible guests from around the world. Whether with Skarra Mucci and their now classic “Dreader Than Dread” or their excellent EP “Golden Nuggets” (2019), Capleton for the extravagant remix of “Burn Dem Down”, producer Panda Dub they collaborated with on “Le Bonheur” or French singer Biga Ranx for their hit “Push The Limits”, L’Entourloop has the gift of giving birth to collaborations that mark the spirits.
With no less than 32 guests from all over the world, MCs fling lyrics like guns like in a western movie and the new album is no exception!
On the reggae side, Jamaican legends such as Ken Boothe and Bounty Killer meet new generation stars such as Alborosie, Kabaka Pyramid, Queen Omega and Marcus Gad. On the hip-hop side Chali 2Na from legendary US group Jurassic 5, Swedish MC Promoe from Looptroop Rockers, US rapper Rêverie, the excellent JuJu Rogers, French beatmaker Degiheugi and the irresistible South African female rapper Dope St Jude all make appearances.
The UK vibe can also be felt with features from jungle and dancehall pioneers General Levy and Tippa Irie as well as heavyweights of the grime scene Flowdan, Lady Chann and Killa P. Fellow French artists are also in the spotlight with guests such as Big Red, O.B.F and Manudigital. To complete this amazing cast, L’Entourloop has once again called on the incomparable Troy Berkley from Bermuda and the talented trumpeter N’Zeng, formerly of Le Peuple de l’Herbe, to accompany the collective on the road alongwith a new addition – excellent Dutch rapper BlabberMouf, who has just joined the killer new live show.
L’Entourloop UK Tour 2024
05/10/2024- Liverpool (UK)- Hangar 34
06/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground – SOLD OUT
07/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground
08/10/2024- Bristol (UK)- Trinity Center- SOLD OUT
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