Most of us are very familiar with Lojay, an artiste who fell and broke his front tooth when he was four (kids are crackhead), and has taken us to the club with bangers like Monalisa, Only Fan and Canada. Fun fact; he’s not really the gangster lover he thinks is.
Lojay released a 7 song project titled Gangster Romantic today, and as always, he gives us fushions of vulnerable emotions, sensual lyricism and reflections of his experiences, from LEADER! to MOTO, to CANADA, it’s all hit and no misses. Lojay tells us that Gangster Romantic was inspired by the lessons he learnt about love and heartbreak and we should hear his side of the story. Now tell me, why should I believe a Yoruba man?
The first time I listened to Yahweh, my first thought was “this should go on my Wanna Come Over? (Sex Playlist)” because DAMN, LOJAY?? YAHWEH is beautiful and raw. Need to go to Quilox and let a baddie grind on me to this song. YAHWEH totally gives the vibe of you professing love to a friend with benefits you’re not meant to be in love with, but alas breakfast is a national cake that everyone must partake in. (Not me though, y’all be safe). Yahweh is my current favourite . And on LEADER!, Lojay proves himself to be a leader of his pack gifted with the ability of sensual lyricism, apt songwriting and vulnerable emotions. Leader inspired a lot of freestlyes challenges which made me realise again how talents abound in Nigeria.
Personally, I think Lojay’s project title is so ironic. Because how are you a gangster lover and you’re crying in your MOTO because you saw your favourite baddie with another guy? A whole Yoruba demon crying? No nau. MOTO is beautiful, therapeutic and soulful. It’s so hard to explain what Lojay did on that song; you literally can feel the pain in his heart when he saw his badddie hang out with another man on Valentine’s. Lojay takes us to the club as he always has on Canada, meshing Amapiano and Afrobeats while on vacation in Ghana. Fun fact; Lojay’s idea of this story was about a lady he met at a strip club the night brefore he recorded the song. On IYD (If You Dance) a Yoruba man pours out his heart to his ex saying “can we at least be friends”, and “whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here”. AVAILABU is pure vibes and high spirited, I really hope the song gets the flowers it deserves. Just like Monalisa did. Someone tell Lojay I need the visuals ASAP!
Lojay really saved the best for the last because Ova feels like the perfect ending to a beautiful project. You just know man was almost in tears while recording this song. Ova is raw. Ova is saying “I know it took so long for me to come to terms with this, but I’m finally done with you”. It’s a perfect way to say bye. The idea of this song is quite similar to Moving On by Chike.
Asides the fact that Lojay has mastered the art of evoking deep emotions with his voice, he is one hell of a writer. He crafts his lyrics in ways that tells stories and even project vivid pictures in your head.
We all know the ethnic group of the woman who broke Lojay’s heart, I won’t mention it, but yeah we know she’s an Igbo woman. (We stan wicked women over here, btw)
Lojay is immensely talented and I hope he gets that global recognition this year because like his previous projects, this is solid 10. That being said, e no go better for APC.