Ossi Grace turns despair into neon-lit joy with her debut EP In A Hopeless Place. Eleven tracks of sultry Afro-soul that refuse to wallow—here, hopelessness is just the soil where resilience blooms.
The journey began three years ago in quiet isolation. After her breakout feature on M.I. Abaga’s “Crazy,” Grace disappeared from the spotlight to write every lyric herself. No clubs, no co-writers—just late nights, Rihanna’s swagger, Fela’s groove, and Tracy Chapman’s truth in her headphones. The first song was moody and unnamed; the second locked the vision: sensual, confessional, proudly un-afrobeats.
Grace shared that Of all the things that she thought people would come out to Ossi Grace for "I didn’t think it was going to be the title. People were actually dragging me for the title. I mean I did say what I said and I'm not gonna take it back. It's just facts and it's not going to change. It is what it is and it will change once something changes. "In a Hopeless Place" is Nigeria. I was born in Nigeria and I grew up in Nigeria for the most part. I mean If you are born there for instance. If you want a better education you have to leave Nigeria and if you want a better health care you have to leave Nigeria. Doesn't that sound Hopeless."
She brought the sketches to a trusted circle—Remy Baggins (her ride-or-die producer), Mojam, PGRSHN, Eddie Serafica—who treated her ideas like gospel. Sessions stretched across Lagos and Ghana; “Ocean” was born in a moment of total uncertainty and became the EP’s emotional anchor. Early songs celebrated petty revenge in love (“You do me, I do you”); later ones chose peace over pride. That evolution—from score-keeping to self-preservation—is the quiet triumph threading the entire project.
One of my favorite standouts like the carefree nightlife banger “FA,” the aching “Where You Belong,” and the velvet confession “Love Like This” feel lived-in because they are. The blue-drenched artwork, dreadlocks swinging against city dusk, is Ossi in full color: tattoos, piercings, unapologetic.
Since release, her phone has been “hot, almost dead” with strangers asking, “Who is Ossi Grace?” The answer is now crystal: a UK-Nigerian voice who took Nigeria’s daily grind, alchemized it into soulful gold, and proved that light shines brightest when you stop pretending the darkness isn’t there.
In A Hopeless Place isn’t just an impressive debut—it’s a manifesto. Stream it, feel it, live it. Ossi Grace has arrived, and she’s not leaving the stage anytime soon.