A number of things have contributed to Lojay’s success: his somewhat unique voice that standouts in an industry where many of its popstars can’t hold a tune longer than five seconds, his good looks — which aren’t exactly preeminent but do just fine — and a fairly ambitious rhyme scheme. Also, throw in the devilishly good Sarz-produced “Monalisa”. Even the angels danced to that. But perhaps the most understated tool in his artistic arsenal is his pen, a fluid weapon that Lojay uses in creating vignettes or smoothly setting the scene. Just see how he brilliantly does both on the first verse of his breakout single “Tonongo”: “Champagne stripper, real gold digger /She need Mulla, big bag biller / Waist on wicked, laps grown thicker (Oh my girl) / One night lover, blood and fire / Turn my balance to small boy dollar / Bum bum cover my oblangata o Jesu, Jesu”. 

On “Automatic”, his latest single alongside Ghanaian music entrepreneur and streetwear enthusiast Smallgod, his first line — spat with a seering precision — immediately sets the scene: “Automatic, accelerate and I’m on the way to you.” Close your eyes and you can picture it: Lojay, sporting a black leather jacket and valentino sunglasses, doing 180 on the freeway at dusk in an emerald green Ford Mustang. But this is not one of those fairy tale love songs where he’s driving a thousand miles to meet his one true love. All Lojay wants is “casual fucking”. He’s not looking for commitment, he’s too busy for that. I mean you’ve got to understand, he’s no more the wide-eyed boy who was once head over heels for Monalisa, he’s a leader now, one that drives foreign whips, the same kind that the folks from Silicon Valley drive. 

Enter the second verse and his words are once again doing the business: “Swing around and swing my way / And the mayguard no fit lock your gate / Hope your mother no go see my face / Pull up in a rate oh rate oh”.  You won’t find many Afropop acts who would express the desire to be an undercover lover the way Lojay does here. He sidesteps the usual cliches, employing gauzy melodies over dark synths, log drums and plush violin strings and breaking down the matter in question explicitly, in a way only Lojay can.