Lojay is not a fan of musical boxes. “Omo, I don’t have a genre and I’m not going to put myself in a box just because people expect it,” he explained to me days before hitting the stage to perform at ART X Lagos Live! “Anyone that wants to put me in a box is free to do so. As long as you are jamming and connecting to the gbedu, you can call it anything you want. If I do rock tomorrow, nobody should fight me.”

As radical as this statement might sound, especially coming from one of the newest voices in the ever-expanding landscape of what we’ve come to know as afrobeats, Lojay’s stance is far from a diatribe against the concept of genres. Instead, it is reflective of self-assuredness that comes from years of self-discovery and rediscovery. When you’ve gotten to a point where you make music for yourself, everything else feels like a bonus point. But right now, Lojay just wants to be Lojay.

Born in Lagos, Lojay (real name Lekan Osifeso Jnr) grew up in two distinct parts of Nigeria’s commercial hub that never sleeps. Starting his formative years in the rural town of Ikorodu, he remembers a lot of church, and his parents working hard to shield himself and his siblings from what he could only describe as “frightening experiences” within their neighborhood. However, as he turned 14, things changed when his family made the big move to Victoria Island, an area known for big companies and even bigger clubs. “Living in Ikorodu humbles you as a child and makes you understand that life is really deep,” he says. “But growing up in Victoria Island allows you to appreciate the sweeter side of life as well. So, for me, it was a very good mix.”

Listening to a lot of gospel music courtesy of his mum being a pastor, Lojay always had a passion for discovering new sounds on his own. It started with Michael Jackson, Lagbaja and Bob Marley, and over time he discovered modern afropop stars such as 2face, Wande Coal and Wizkid. This desire to try out new music, first as a consumer and then as an artist in his own right, eventually led him to internationally acclaimed producer, Sarz, whose roster of collaborators include Skepta and Beyoncé.

Their recently released EP, ‘LV N ATTN’, immediately resonated with listeners all over the world, racking up streams and shooting up the charts. Backed by Sarz’s distinct yet ever-maturing sound, Lojay seamlessly switches between his native tongue of Yoruba, Pidgin and Patois-infused English to tell a falsetto-backed hedonistic love story across five tracks. An intense night at a popular Lagos strip club inspires the opening song ‘Tonongo’ as Lojay cheers on his private dancer with Star Wars references. But it’s the EP’s amapiano-inspired closer, ‘Monalisa’ that has radio stations and clubs across the country in a chokehold. “It was just me and Sarz in an apartment through the pandemic cooking up music for the beauty of it,” he says, when I ask about the EP’s creative process. “We weren’t trying to make a ‘hit’ song. As a matter of fact, I was editing songs up until the day of submission. Because for me, it’s like, why stop when it can always be better.”

It’s these exacting standards that have earnt Lojay success yet he remains surprised at the reception his music is getting. He admits that he expected it to do well, but so far, it’s been way beyond his expectations. The most jaw-dropping fan moment yet? Well, that’d be Manchester United star Paul Pogba messaging him to talk about his music.

And now, with concerts finally getting back to what they used to be pre-pandemic, he shares his excitement about seeing people appreciate his songs in person as he prepares to perform alongside AYLO, Bigfoot, Dami Oniru, AMKMQ, Fez, and Pheelz at this year’s ART X Lagos Live!, with the theme ‘Forward Ever’. “Performing live is something I’ve been looking forward to for a while,” he admits. “To just see people gravitate towards these songs live is incredible. ART X Live! will allow me to perform a refreshing take on my songs and I do believe it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

So, what’s next for one of the most in-demand artists of the moment? New music, of course. But while he doesn’t share a lot about his upcoming projects, Lojay reveals that he is working hard to cement his position in this cut-throat industry. “I don’t want to drop the quality in my music,” he tells me as he rushes off for another meeting. “I want people to feel like my career was unprecedented and I still shut it down; that I expanded on what the legends before me had done and became a legend in my own right.”

ART X Live is on 6 November. To attend visit the ART X Lagos website here.

ART X Lagos 2021 runs from 4-7 November at The Federal Palace in Lagos and digitally from 4-21 November.

Words Conrad Johnson-Omodiagbe
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Published on 04/11/2021