Echezona is a Son of Africa and a Son of America. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, and raised in the Boston blue-collar inner-city neighborhood of Dorchester, Echezona is a blend of cultural influences. Fluent in the native Nigerian tongue of his parents, Igbo, this self-described “kid of immigrants” is a multi-lingual singer, rapper, and songwriter. A Nigerian-American contributor to America’s melting pot of cultural diversity, Echezona transcends hip-hop and afrobeat musical cultures.
Echezona spent many of his early days honing his rapping and writing skills at his local Boys and Girls Club, a safe haven from the streets. He sang and played drums in his church choir, and absorbed Nigerian culture from his parents, and a tight-knit community of friends and extended family. Growing up, Echezona become widely known as the best hip hop artist around, a deep thinker, profound and quick-witted lyricist, and Boston’s top freestyle rapper.
In March 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, Echezona signed a deal with producer JPRiZM’s record label, Koma Toast. Separated physically by the quarantine in their early days together, their earliest collaborations were done via zoom, with Echezona emailing his iPhone recorded vocals to JPRiZM. Although knowing Echezona primarily as a rapper until then, JPRiZM recalled his own time spent as a club DJ and knew the growing popularity of afrobeats music. So, he decided to experiment with Echezona by tapping into Echezona’s Nigerian cultural roots, singing abilities, and personal love for afrobeats.
The result: a new era to Echezona’s musicality emerged, Afro Hip Hop Fusion, a unique blend of Echezona’s multi-lingual lyricism, singing and rapping, on a musical bed of hip hop and afrobeat rhythms laced with a sprinkling of EDM and pop.
Among that first batch of recordings made by Echezona and JPRiZM was the song that Echezona is best known for to date, the iconic song “Galileo”. With the familiar refrain “Keep my head to the stars like Galileo”, Echezona shines light on his own motivations and encourages others to think outside the box and to follow your own vision no matter what anybody tells you. Commercially successful, Galileo was chosen for the soundtrack of the EASports 2K21 basketball game, received ESPN TV airplay, and garnered regular FM commercial radio airplay on Boston's #1 hip hop station iHeart Radio’s 94.5. Additionally, Echezona was co-branded by the NBA when Echezona and Galileo were featured in its Earned Jersey promotional campaign.
Galileo was followed by “Arm’s Length”, an introspective look inside the struggles of economic survival and overcoming challenges by keeping negativity at arm’s length. The song “Big Chop” reflects Echezona's love and respect for women who confidently express themselves through their big chop hairstyles. “Ride" is a rhythmic fusion Afropop R&B mid-tempo ballad sung in English and the African language Igbo. The song promotes self-worth and acceptance, inspired by parting ways with an ungrateful lover. Echezona returned to his rap roots with his song "TMH" (meaning Too Much Heat), a reminder to any doubters that he's still got bars. TMH speaks to those who hate being stereotyped or pigeonholed, and the belief that no one is just one thing. Different and multi-faceted, this Echezona saying, "don’t try to box me in. Just when you think you have me figured out, you don’t.” Echezona's x JPRiZM's newest collaboration is "It's Your World" an inspirational song about riding life's ups and downs and coming out victorious. Echezona also has featured on tracks with other artists such as SuperSmashBroz song "Pace", and the "N’Abani remix" with PrettyBoy D-O and Itsbynu.
Widely regarded as Boston's most diversely talented artist, Echezona continually opens ears and eyes to new dimensions to his artistry. Singing and rapping in English and Igbo, Echezona is a global artist, reflecting a society where no nation or genre in the contemporary music industry owns a monopoly on what is popular among today’s listeners.