EMPIRE Announces Africa Compilation Project, “Where We Come From”

As a continuation of the explosion of African music within the U.S airwaves, EMPIRE, the leading independent record label, announces its first-ever Africa compilation album Where We Come From (Vol. 1). Alongside this announcement today, award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter Kizz Daniel drops the first offering from the project ‘Cough (Odo).’

Set to highlight the rising talent from their ever-growing roster on the continent, Where We Come From (Vol. 1), is a testament to Africa’s ability to foster unity through music. “Working on this album has been one of the highlights of my career,” Bnxn fka Buju said. “I feel blessed to have been around so much talent, drive, and creativity all in the same room. This album is about showcasing the best that Africa has to offer, and we’ve done that.”

The compilation project is a body of work created during the writing camp at EMPIRE’s headquarters in San Francisco directly following their first showcase “The New Africa” during the second night of SXSW in March. The crowd saw performances by Bnxn fka Buju, Cheque, Fireboy DML, June Freedom, L.A.X., Wande Coal, and other African music trailblazers who are signed to EMPIRE. Artists set to be spotlighted on the upcoming project include Fireboy DML, Olamide, Bnxn fka Buju, Navy Kenzo, Wande Coal, Tolani, Black Sherif, Leil, Kizz Daniel, L.A.X, and more.

“This album is a collective of multi-talented, independent artists, who we’ve partnered with to help create a legacy of cultural appreciation and collaboration, ” Ezegozie Eze, Jr., VP, Strategy and Market Development – Africa & Diaspora said. “Building this platform is one way we plan to further highlight the soundscapes of Africa and the diversity of its artists. It’s a celebration of familiar sounds and the emerging fusions, of familiar voices and rising stars. We’re extremely appreciative of the time and dedication it took everyone involved to put this together.”

EMPIRE Africa globalized EMPIRE’s existing success in America by further highlighting and developing the accomplishments of Nigerian artists like Fireboy DML, Bnxn fka Buju, Olamide, KiDi, Black Sherif, and Asake. Named as the top label in Nigeria, EMPIRE holds this title by market share and as the top music company with the collective most No. 1’s in Nigeria according to TurnTable Charts, the Billboard equivalent in Africa. Furthermore, artists across EMPIRE’s Africa roster dominated the Top 35 songs on Apple Music’s ‘Nigeria Top Songs’ charts and held the #1 Top Single for over 25 weeks on TurnTable Charts. The expanding division has seen much recent success with Asake’s Mr. Money With The Vibe becoming the highest charting debut Nigerian album of all time on the BIllboard 200 and the biggest Nigerian album in Apple Music history (globally), Fireboy DML becoming the first African artist to perform at the 2022 BET Awards, Kizz Daniel breaking records as most streamed artist on Boomplay, KiDi going platinum in India for his hot single “Touch It” featuring multi-platinum recording artist Tyga, and Black Sheriff gaining 75+ million audio streams for “Kwaku the Traveller” in just one month.

“The artists from Africa really transcend where music is today,” Ghazi, EMPIRE CEO and Founder said. “This is a legendary moment for EMPIRE to be able to share incredible African music with the world, much of which we were fortunate enough to record at our studio here in San Francisco.”