The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Beast arrived in 2026 from Maison Yusif, a house led by Yusif Meizongo Jnr. Meizongo, the first perfumer from West Africa to receive certification, builds compositions that pull directly from raw resin, smoky wood and leather that doesn't negotiate. The Beast is his most aggressive statement yet. The brand's own positioning, dark, untamed, dangerously addictive, sets the tone. This is a fragrance designed to occupy a room the moment you walk into it, and the opening announces itself with intention: bergamot cuts through first, followed quickly by black pepper that has real bite. Cardamom arrives warm and slightly sweet, while oregano threads underneath like an herbal current, unexpected and slightly savoury.
What gives The Beast its character is a willingness to let unusual ingredients lead. The oregano and cardamom in the opening bring a green herbal heat that makes the opening feel less like a traditional oud entry and more like something pulled from a spice market. Opoponax and incense stack the heart into something closer to resin than rose, while the double dose of oud, appearing in both heart and base, signals a commitment to the material rather than a token nod. The base is unapologetically rich: leather, two sandalwood mentions, patchouli, tonka and vanilla.
The evolution
The Beast opens with a sharp hit of bergamot and black pepper that reads almost electric for the first few minutes, oregano threading underneath like something herbal you'd find in a market stall rather than a perfume. Cardamom rounds it into something warmer as the minutes pass. The heart arrives gradually rather than all at once. Incense and opoponax build a resinous architecture first, then oud and sandalwood settle into it, vetiver adding a dry green edge that keeps the whole thing from collapsing into pure sweetness. Eventually the leather takes centre stage, and that's when the composition finds its true identity. The base is where The Beast lives longest. Sandalwood and patchouli form a dense wooden foundation, tonka and vanilla push through the cracks with a sweetness that never gets cloying because the oud keeps pulling it back toward something darker.
Cultural impact
The Beast lands in 2026 as a statement piece from a house building a catalogue that already includes The Vatican and Bad Influence. It sits among the louder, more aggressive compositions in the line rather than the restrained ones, a fragrance built around raw resin, smoky wood and leather. For anyone tracking how West African perfumery is presenting itself right now, The Beast functions as one of the clearest declarations of intent currently on offer.
The House
Maison YusifMaison Yusif is a Ghanaian fragrance house that translates the continent’s botanical heritage into contemporary niche scents. Founded in Accra in 2017, the brand blends sacred resins, ancestral spices and locally sourced aromatics with modern artisan techniques. Its catalogue, which now exceeds twenty creations, includes titles such as So Much Fun (2020) and The Vatican (2022), each designed to evoke a specific memory of West African landscapes. Maison Yusif positions itself as a bridge between traditional African olfactory practices and the global perfume community, offering collectors a distinct point of view rooted in Ghanaian culture.
The Creator
Yusif Meizongo JnrYusif favors a hands‑on approach, blending raw extracts with precision. He often begins with a single note that resonates with him—a Ghanaian cocoa bean, a coastal mangrove leaf, or a sunrise‑lit hibiscus—and builds outward, layering complementary accords to create depth.
