After the success of his collaborative EP with Sarz, which gave us hits like “Mona Lisa”, “Park x3” and “Tonongo”, the Nigerian singer continues to wear his heart on his sleeve, but keeps it a gee on “Gangster Romantic”, his latest body of work. Lekan Osifeso is living his best life, Mona Lisa’s remix which features Chris Brown peaked at number 8 on the Billboard U.S Afrobeats Charts, making it the most played Afrobeats song on Shazam. Chris Brown also brought out the singer to perform at his Breezy Concert.
After growing his fanbase over the last two years, Lojay feeds his fans with a seven-track EP that dabbles around with two of Africa’s sounds, Afrobeats and Amapiano. Throughout the project, Lojay’s voice is a little too powerful to blend into the background of the production, but quality engineering balances it out. “Yahweh” sounds like a spiritual tune per the title, but Lojay’s sexual attunement in his writing skill remains key to his appeal. It’s your typical Afro-soul with components of sensuality. The EP’s single “Leader!”, which is produced by Nigeria’s P.Prime, holds heavy replay value, building all the facets that shape Lojay’s art: intimacy, reflections, and catchy hooks that can make you play in the background while you go about your day. The song comes with a very commanding video that sums up Lojay’s ambitions.
There is a handful of brightness on this project, but it seems Lojay is at his best when he is crooning to his lover, “Motto” is one of the well-penned songs on here, it presents an attainable vision of “Afro&B”, with lyrics that act as an unpretentious suite of pure bedroom music. It is the type of music that will make it to your picnic playlist if you want to spend some quality time with your lover. His love for Amapiano is no news, he has been experimenting with the sound for some time, and on “Canada”, he recruits Amapiano’s frontiers to complete the record, produced by DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small, the duo’s presence adds more originality to Amapiano’s drum patterns, with percussions that lend structure to Lojay’s approach. Gangster Romantic runs for twenty minutes, there are mixed emotions throughout but a vast part of it is Lojay looking for clarity with his lover.
“IYD” which stands for “If you’re down”, is a slow jam suited for the segments of late-night urban radio. The soft guitar chords and eager hook of “if you down, if you down, hail Lol” is Lojay at his freshest, throwing back to the vibe of his collaboration with Sarz. With so many love songs, this is where he sounds tender as ever. When he is not whispering sweet words to his partner, he is “Availabu” for her, produced by Magicsticks, it’s your pure “Afro-piano” record; log-drum grooves, bright synths, and whistles that pay homage to South Africa’s sound. Lojay’s party is driven by hardcore drum patterns and heavy bass lines that will get you on the dance floor. The project’s last song sounds like the perfect message for ending a pursuit. He is basically a finished man on “Ova”, his broken-hearted vocals fit perfectly on P. Prime’s familiar landscape production of soft, shapeless Afro&B, with sounds of bagpipes that fuel Lojay’s sadness through the song. Gangster Romantic is a showcase of what a natural talent can do when left to their own devices, with moody soundscapes, he paints the perfect picture with pallets of Afrobeats, R&B, and Amapiano.
