Lagos According to Six Great Musicians

In No Love in Lagos, Show Dem Camp and The Cavemen give a resounding nod to the future of Afropop against the brazen, rich musical backdrop of Lagos.

On a recent weekday, I stood beside a Precor treadmill and mulled over my YouTube Music app. Searching for the day’s playlist doesn’t usually take long, since I know the fast, heart-grabbing music that I like when working out. But then I had downloaded No Love In Lagos some days before, and wanting a full uninterrupted listen, I pressed play. Thirty-two minutes later I was a sweaty witness to the album’s distinctive flavour and original force, which is refreshed with quaint elements that place it among the year’s best.

No Love in Lagos is an anomaly of sorts. Perhaps that’s why it took a while for it to register in my attention. In a period when young people—the biggest demographic in Nigeria and Nigerian pop, no less—are seeking alternatives to the percussive hypnosis of amapiano, artists are inside studios finding the next big sound. Rema’s hyperactive blend of street pop and brazen machismo cumulated in the impressive agility of HEIS; on his debut LP Stubborn, Victony’s knack for worldbuilding finds the swirling sonics to go with; Born in the Wild showcased Tems’s irrepressible voice within the canon of R&B, a style she continues to master. Apparently, Afropop is looking outwards to find itself, a roving beast of interests and inclinations.

The creators behind No Love in Lagos are set in their ways. A five-star collision, the ten-track album brings the guitar wizardry of Nsikak David into the hip-hopped world of Show Dem Camp, a duo that has colourfully evoked Lagos on their tapes. The final piece of the puzzle is The Cavemen, the brother band who dub their sound Highlife fusion. Together, these five acts—along with producer Spax—contribute a sterling piece to contemporary Nigerian music, achieving a fine depth of social perspective while easing down the music, mostly favouring a languid, jazz groove that relentlessly excites...