The Nigerian stars Mr. Eazi and Burna Boy practice their apologies in the new clip for “Miss You Bad,” which brings the concept of the Stylistics’ “Break Up to Make Up” into a modern setting. Mr. Eazi is contrite — “I did you wrong,” he admits — and in a hurry to fix his relationship: “Loving you is all I want.” But it doesn’t take long for ambivalence to sneak back into the track. “I ain’t saying I’m in love/But I am staying I suppose/‘Cause I don’t know how I’m getting home,” Burna Boy sings. Frustration appears not long after — “how many times must I apologize?” “Miss You Bad” ends in less than three minutes, but the couples’ problems remain unresolved.
“Miss You Bad” is a standout on Life is Eazi, Vol.2 – Lagos To London, a mixtape the singer released last year. The track is a careful hybrid: In an interview last year, Mr. Eazi explained that he “worked with the producers to make sure the groove on the drums — tsh-pa, tsh-tsh-pa — sits in between R&B and the African music I make.”
African music is slowly attracting more listeners in the the U.S. American radio is currently playing DaVido’s single “Fall,” which is one of the Top 100 most-Shazam’d songs in the the country. A different afrobeats single, Afro B’s “Drogba (Joanna),” is Shazam-ing Top Five in New York City.