BNXN and Sarz Announce Joint EP ‘The Game Needs Us’ Dropping May 11

BNXN and Sarz are joining forces for a five-track EP called The Game Needs Us, dropping May 11, 2026, on EMPIRE.

The announcement came alongside their lead single “Back Outside,” which dropped on April 20 and has already climbed to No. 2 on Apple Music Nigeria’s Daily Top Songs. It marks BNXN’s first release of 2026, and the chemistry with Sarz is already doing the talking.

For BNXN, this project follows his 2025 album CAPTAIN — a solid sophomore effort featuring Rema, Victony, Seyi Vibez, FOLA, and the Soweto Gospel Choir. The rebranded artist (formerly Buju) has been building a reputation for emotionally textured music that straddles alté pop and Afrobeats without getting boxed in.

Sarz brings a track record of making collaborative albums work. His joint projects with Wurld (I Love Girls With Trobul), Lojay (LV N ATTN), and Obongjayar (Sweetness) showed he knows how to build a sonic identity around a collaborator without overshadowing them. That’s a specific skill, and it fits well here.

The EP arrives at a moment when collaborative Afrobeats releases are having a serious run. Asake has an album incoming, Tiwa Savage just wrapped her grand finale at the National Theatre, and Nigerian artists are generally leaning into partnerships in 2026. BNXN and Sarz’s team-up has the receipts to back the hype.

Sources: Nigerian Sounds, The Net, OloriSuperGal, TheCable Lifestyle