In July, Big Teezer released “Ungrateful,” a single that blends Afrobeat, pop, and trap and comes from an upcoming EP. The artist, originally from Salayea, Liberia, and now based in Nicosia, Cyprus, recorded it there, and the only thing he says about the sessions is that the producer was very nice to him while they worked. It’s a modest way to describe a studio experience, and it matches how plainly he talks about the whole project.
By his own account, the song is about people who talk about other people, which he calls a very bad thing. He says no one influenced it, that it came entirely from his own life experience, and that the lyric was his main contribution. The aim was to write something meaningful that his audience could enjoy and relate to.
Lyrically, its potency lies in how simple and straightforward it is, directly posing questions about selfishness and being ungrateful to the people who love you. I think the reason the lyrics work so well is also that the harmonic layers create a luscious, introspective bed for the melody to stand strongly on top of.
There are no live dates to flag yet, with Big Teezer saying only that performances may come in the future. For now, the EP is the thing to watch, and “Ungrateful” is a reasonable preview of where he’s heading as a writer. His personal motto is about looking after your own life if you want it to last, and he clearly approaches songwriting from that same practical angle, drawing on what he’s lived rather than on anyone else’s playbook. He’s also asked to be placed on the right playlist, which is down to curators, but a song with a clear message and a melody that sits this comfortably gives him a fair case.