Lojay probes power, pain and pleasure on Gangster Romantic

6 mar 2023 - 16:11

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Nigerian singer Lojay’s approach to Afropop is marked by delicate wit and a definite tendency for erotic themes, and his voice, which at once percolates boyish innocence and imposing charm, allows him to broach even the most vulgar talking points with warm allure, while the haunting brilliance of his compositions deepens their soppiness.

Lojay.

On his just-released Gangster Romantic EP, a follow-up to 2021’s LV N ATTN, the artist pushes this advantage ruthlessly, dissecting a labyrinth of emotions on the fondness arc while fetching from his sexual heroism. The seven-track collection studies the tension between love and power – or the power of love – adorned with charming hooks and explicit freedom. All thanks, perhaps, to his leading colleague Wizkid, Afrobeats' most notable apostle of this style today.

Lojay’s prurient theology starts with ‘Yahweh’, whose title and position on the LP trick the listener into embracing the song as something religious. Once it starts playing, however, the traditional sentiment attending the word, and the privacy of its author’s libidinous escapades, are segregated to the back. Instead, Lojay deploys the word as an exclamation for unchaste provocation impossible to disengage from. The absence of rectitude generally underlines pop from these parts. And yet, Lojay’s take is unprecedented – an ingenious contrivance and clever introduction to the project.

Other offerings such as ‘Moto’ and ‘Ova’, toss Lojay into crushing pain, leaving him trembling in internal debate at the corner of unreturned affection, or wallowing at the junction of the extermination of once healthy romance. ‘IYD’ is a moving number orchestrated as an invitation to vulnerability, while ‘Leader’ soundtracks pop arrogance. ‘Canada’ and 'Availabu' regale the listener with more playful anecdotes about romantic devotion – or a semblance of it.

Gangster Romantic is the temperature of something both infernal and a cool freeze, and though ignited by thumping dancehall sensuality, it expands into a fabulous collision of genre-bending fine points; quintessential 90s R&B, amapiano, West African pop and more.

The singer disclosed upon the arrival of his new body of work that it was bereft of commercial targets, but rather, was born out of an artistic compulsion for enduring connection. Seeing how beautifully his approach continues to subvert traditional trends, particularly in his conveyance of pleasure and pain, Lojay is clearly presenting himself at the door of Afrobeats renown.