Afro-retro singer and soulful storyteller Ibejii follow his previous release Gonto with Happy Me, the second single from his upcoming EP Intermission, a body of work that explores the emotional rollercoaster foisted on many by the combination of a global health pandemic, a global movement for racial justice, the #EndSARS campaign to end police brutality for Nigerians and the daily challenge of keeping it together amidst aloneness, social isolation, and multiple lockdowns.
The single is the final puzzle in the EP’s story that sees the listener reclaim mental and emotional wellness after a long season of loss, fear, lockdowns, and uncertainty.
Produced by DopeL, Happy Me’s inception came about when Ibejii received a call from a friend saying “I deserve to be happy don’t I?” To which he provided assurance and so began a journey to ‘catch happy’.
Ibejii says of Happy Me’s message:
“We all have a right to be happy, regardless of who we are. There are some privileges that you simply must guard zealously & first on my list is the right to be happy. A right that should neither be outsourced nor entrusted to the discretion of others. You simply cannot afford to depend on someone else for something as critical as your mental wellness”.
With an EP that describes the last few years as an Intermission, a time to reflect and reset, the single is a positive metaphor for the rebirth of personal and collective awareness now arising.