Nigeria’s Lojay named Apple Music Africa Rising artist

The Africa Rising programme is designed to elevate the careers of emerging artist in Africa by highlighting their music on the streaming service.

“Thank you Apple Music for putting a spotlight on my sound,” Lojay said. “It’s a huge honour I don’t take for granted especially with all the amazing artists the continent has on display. It’s amazing to see how far my music is able to travel and how well it’s been received.”

Having developed a love for music at an early age, it became a form of escapism for Lojay in his adolescent years, but his collaboration with renowned producer Sarz on the five-track EP LV N ATTN in 2021 sparked his creative mastery and shot the musician to the top of the Apple Music Nigeria Album Chart.

This EP was anchored by the hit single ‘Monalisa’, which reached No 3 on the Apple Music Charts in July 2021. As a result of the remix of ‘Monalisa’ in 2022 featuring Chris Brown, Lojay’s popularity skyrocketed, and he followed that up with the downtempo Afrofusion single ‘Leader’ in the same year, and the amapiano-infused single ‘Canada’ with Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa.

His 2023 EP Gangster Romance, which is available on Apple Music in Spatial Audio, explores the highs and lows of the past year through emotive vocals and biting lyrics.