Power

*Power* is the debut album by 69ERRAS. Released August 5th, 2022, it is divided between two discs - the first in English, the second in his native Afrikaan tongue, Sesothos. Initially the project was described as an EP - and released as one, also - before being re-envisioned as an album.

Originally scheduled for release in October of 2021, it was delayed due to 69ERRAS still working on recording. The project, initially an EP, was released as singles within Chasin' This Life, Give Me Your Love, My People, Without Me, and Wrong. The first two both feature Norff, while the last featured 12Digits.

## Production

69ERRAS began working on the project since mid 2021, following the release of Too Loud. Originally, the idea was for an EP of six tracks, but as Era found himself recording more and more he decided to expand it into an album, with the EP simply being a 'teaser' of the album.

Following the fifth single - and EP track - Era revealed his intent was for fans to create their own tracklist of the EP with the tracks he had given them. Barkhoff commissioned two potential covers for the EP to give to those who wished to make their own EP - later on, the red variant would be confirmed as the album cover, as Era preferred it over potential covers Barkhoff made for the album.

The singles - and album - were all distributed by Barkhoff, while he also handled the artwork for all of them. Originally, Give Me Your Love and Without Me were solely available on YouTube (and Chasing This Life was exclusive to Norff's Spotify account). On August 3rd, it was revealed that Barkhoff had remastered instrumental tracks to release remixes on the album.

The week preceding, a magazine-esque cover was released teasing "Issue 1" for August 4th. Reportedly, Barkhoff scheduled Disc 1 for release on this date before it was pushed to August 5th (beyond his control), to fit on the same day as Disc 2. The magazine cover was a potential album cover Barkhoff made, showcasing a pair of wires shaped in a "69". Norff suggested this be the cover, but Era preferred Barkhoff's EP format.

Barkhoff found himself unable to edit the songs for release as quickly as he - and Era - wished, especially as he needed to make original instrumentals for the three aforementioned songs. Due to this, he scheduled Disc 2 (untitled that, in case he had to delay Disc 1), for August 5th, to ensure the album would be released on it's own Friday, separate from other artists'.

## Release

Chasin This Life was the first release in October 2021. It was released under Norff's account. The second release was in January 2022, My People which saw the launch of 69ERRAS' individual streaming channels.

He released a follow-up the Friday before Valentine's Day. Give Me Your Love was met with positive reviews. In April, he released Without Me to critical acclaim. He announced Wrong for a July release - this single was again met with positive reviews.

Following the release of Wrong, Era 'trolled' his Twitter followers, saying he was going on break. Less than a month later, two images were released showing EP cover designs, with the guise being that the listener could choose their own. With this, it was announced "Power - The Album" would come soon.

In August, it was teased "Issue 1" of "Power Magazine" would release on August 4th. On August 3rd, it was confirmed the following day at 11 PM Central Time the album would be released across "two discs" (two seperate uploads to streaming), as one was English and the second was Sesotho.

## Tracklist

### EP

Following the release of his April song "Without Me", 69ERRAS announced that the intent of the EP was to let the listeners arrange the tracklist themselves, describing the album as "loading" for completion from the audience.

Due to this, the EP has no intended tracklist. Era did, however, share that his choice for opening song would be "My People".

### Album

Disc 1: English -

1. Hit Man
2. My People
3. Street Bowling (ft. Trap G)
4. Live Free (ft. Gee Mak and Norff)
5. Interlude Of A Gee (ft. Gee Mak)
6. Give Me Your Love (Remix) [ft. Norff]
7. Feelings In My Heart (ft. 12Digits and Lady P)
8. Million Dollar Question
9. Without Me (Remix)
10. Chasing This Life (Remix) [ft. Norff]
11. Wrong (ft. 12Digits)
12. Score Up

Disc 2: Sesotho -

1. Amanga (ft. Young Cee RSA)
2. HELA (ft. Kat Wap)
3. Lerato La Hao (ft. Norff)
4. Letlolemala (ft. Kat Wap)
5. Marumo (ft. Kat Wap)
6. Matshido Lapeng Leno (ft. Norff)
7. Mawazawaza
8. Naledi (ft. Norff)
9. Nthuse (ft. Norff)
10. NTWA (ft. Norff)
11. Shapa (ft. Young Cee RSA)
12. SONO (ft. Norff)

## Reception

### EP

The singles that predated the album received positive reviews to critical acclaim, in varying degrees. Without Me, for instance, was met with laud from an online community - while Give Me Your Love saw very positive reviews. My People has the least amount of positivity displayed for it, with many commenting on it's short length.

### Album

The album was met with positive reviews, though some commentators felt that the best songs were released ahead of time, with the inferior ones being saved. For those who couldn't understand Disc 2, they commended it's vibrancy and upbeat melodies and tone. The remixed songs done by Barkhoff were met with hasty criticism for feeling "too repetitive at times". Barkhoff replied saying that he agreed and was unpleased with a majority of them himself, but wasn't planning on releasing the songs on streaming until mere weeks before the album's intended release so had to work with the time he had, and has expressed interest in potential "remix packs" for the songs done by other artists and maybe even retrying to "fix the chords" himself at some point.