Lady Donli and the Birth of a Pan-African Rockstar

At first glance, Lady Donli casts a demure figure, as far as self-proclaimed rockstars go. ‘So before I start my shows, right, I do this pledge,’ she says, staring out the window and into the rain in the opening scene of her music video, Cash. The first time I paid serious attention to Lady Donli was in early 2017, during a family party hosted at my grandfather’s house in Surulere, Lagos. One of her older brothers, Ibrahim, had gone to secondary school with my cousin and, as fate

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