360Focus: Ric Hassani Is The African Gentleman

If you are a lover of soulful pop, there is no artist from the last 4 years that will excite you as much as Ric Hassani and his sound will.

An artist who styles himself as the African Gentleman, you are likely to spot Ric in classic Western style clothing, made with African print.

Be it an Ankara jacket with matching pants, or a white shirt with print bow tie, or a colourful tie and dye shirt, one thing is certain – he comes out looking dapper as befitting a gentleman.

Ric Hassani explains that his fashion direction was inspired by Triple MG co-founder, Ubi Franklin who advised him, “Ric, let your music look like you, you should look like what you sound like, OR sound like what you look like whichever comes first”.
Ric gave it some thought and decided his music was all about being classic, modern and African so started with his current style.
Ric Hassani, born Ikechukwu Eric Ahiauzu in Port Harcourt has been pursuing music full time for a little more than a year now. Last year, he released two projects – a compilation album called African Tour Select Singes 2015 and an EP tagged Ric Hassani – The Acoustic EP.

 His music, just like his sense of fashion, is as suave as could be. In his 2015 critically acclaimed single, Gentleman, Ric sings of the worth of the African woman. With smooth vocals, beautiful acoustic instrumental, Gentleman is the modern equivalent of 2Face’s African Queen.

Posted by: Ewuradwoa Mensah