Journalist James Eze out with musical single, ‘Nwayo’

Journalist, poet and author James Eze is trying his hands on another brand of artistic skill – music.

Eze, former chief press secretary and spokesman to Anambra State former governor, Willie Obiano, has announced the release of his debut single titled, Nwayo.

Nwayo, Igbo word for ‘gently’ or ‘easy’, according to the nascent songster, is a song that captures the dilemma of a generation forced to a life on the edge.

The highly experimental song which offers a convincing moral compass to the listener essentially in Igbo proverbs is now streaming on all major digital music platforms.

Eze said the song was initially written as a poem “but was eventually set to song to garner a wider audience from a society plagued with a low attention span”.

The song subtly opens with innocent lines urging the listener to get ready for enjoyment. But it swiftly assumes the attributes of a homily with Eze assuming the position of a wise Igbo elder, delivering a manual for a happy, contented life.

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Nwayo is a strident call for a moral rearmament by a society caught in the throes of self-destruction.  The clever use of Igbo proverbs heightens the poignancy of the song and ensures that it stays on message while the infectious rhythm of the beat nudges the audience to its feet.

“It’s a delightful masterpiece that teaches and entertains at the same time; a subtle redirection of the gaze of entertainment insiders to the need to preserve the wellbeing of the society through music,” Eze said.

Eze is a poet, songwriter, speechwriter, journalist and a Public Relations expert.

His first collection of poems “dispossessed” is nominated for the Nigeria Prize for Literature 2022, after winning the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize in 2020.