A chart-proven romantic with a studio-nerd streak, Lojay steps into debut-album mode on XOXO, a 14-track weave of Afrobeats, R&B and pop, deepening his fusions, widening his feelings, and staking a claim as a dominant force.

Ever since Lojay’s country-wide breakout circa 2021 with his LvnAttn EP, the young superstar has carved a legacy with his hypnotic party-bangers and hopeless-romantic songs. Produced by Sarz, that record solidified his stance as one of the most vibrant newcomers, even bagging a remix with Grammy-winning US singer Chris Brown on the standout track, Monalisa.

With multiple notable chart entries, including the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs (Monalisa) and Billboard Hot 100 (Sensational with Chris Brown and Davido), a Headies award for Next Rated Artiste, and a Grammy nomination for the Best African Music Performance (Sensational), Lojay’s catalogue has since become a household spin among Afrobeats lovers across the world.

Now, with a debut album dubbed XOXO, the 29-year-old singer, born Lekan Osifeso Jr, continues his romantic evangelism with a 14-track set that deepens his sonic fusions, heartfelt messaging, and superstar status. With four iconic features, including British-Nigerian singer Odeal (Mwah!), Colombian rapper Feid (Body), South African superstar Tyla (Memories), and Nigerian hitmaker Victony (Sawa), the album flourishes with progressive Pop and R&B fusions and intimate songwriting.

Catching up with Guardian Music, Lojay unpacks his memoirs behind XOXO, navigating the diverse perspectives and experiences that inspire the record; his creative process; his early come-up journey; and why remaining a music nerd is vital to his career legacy, among others.

How long did it take to make the XOXO album?
I’ve been unconsciously making this album for two years. Consciously, I started planning it as an album last year.

When Bossa Nova dropped, it signalled your deepened fusions. Tell us about the melodic experiments you explored in this album.

I wanted my album to be an Afrobeats album, and I wanted it to be artistic. That was the only thing that I used as my North Star. If you listen to the album, you will hear that it’s very diverse, with so many different genre blends.

What was your most spontaneous session in making this album?
I had a lot of good sessions, almost every day, while I was making the album. My most spontaneous one was when I recorded Mwah! with Odeal. It was on Christmas night, last year. It was meant to be a catch-up, not a studio session. When we got together, the producer Loudaa was also in the studio, and he played the instrumental. The song happened almost automatically, like it just felt like the perfect time.

Tell us about the session with Tyla.
I actually made that song in 2022. There were so many similar songs that I was just itching to drop, but I guess it wasn’t the right time. The session itself was quite impromptu. She was in Lagos, and Sarz had told me about it. Halfway into the session, he called me and asked if I was able to link up. At that time, she wasn’t really as recognised in Nigeria. It was a calm and cool meetup.

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t take long to make music. It is a quick process for me. Tyla’s session was one of those situations where the energy was right in the room; we were all laughing and talking. Then, in the middle of all of that, while I was playing a beat and vibing like usual, we ended up recording Memories.

What about the session with Victony?
That was probably the only session that didn’t have a physical studio session. Initially, the song wasn’t even on the album, but I liked the entire idea of it. It wasn’t a finished song at that time. There was a second verse already done, but I felt the song needed another layer that was not my voice, and Victony popped into my mind. I hit him up to see if he was interested. He was excited about it, and he ended up sending his verse in a few hours.

Were there any other songs that could have made the album, but couldn’t?
There were a lot of songs that were meant to make the album. I recorded a boatload of songs before we finally selected the tracklist. I make at least seven to eight songs on a good day.

Any pre-recording rituals?
Music is second nature to me. I used to take it for granted, till I was around people and realised that not everybody does it like this. I just need to hear the beat or the melody, and everything comes out. It’s almost like it had been pre-arranged in my head. It is as if I’m just picking what I want to use at every timestamp in the song.

Romance takes centre stage in your craft. How much of the album is fiction?
Out of 14 songs, perhaps just two were kind of fiction. Even the fiction itself is kind of rooted in reality because I always draw everything from reality. I don’t know how to make random fictional stories of things that I’ve never seen happen. In this album, it was just me having fun. I guess also, because of my creative process, the only way it works is if I’m drawing from somewhere. I don’t think it’s straightforward to be as fluent, sonically, if there isn’t a source you’re drawing from already.

So, which do you speak more fluently: love or heartbreak?
I speak music. I guess the topics can change, but generally, I just speak music. If you listen to All Right, it’s a very personal song. Same thing with Suru.

Were you in love recording this album?
I fell, went out, and fell right again. It was like a period of two years. Things were happening, my life was moving on regardless.

Are you in love right now?
Right now? I’m one with God. I’m still very much a lover boy. I still very much celebrate love. I love the idea of love. I think in a lot of ways, it’s all part of the story. It’s all part of the journey, like the good, the bad, the ugly, especially when it comes to love; there’s a lot of ugly and bad, but you can’t collect one and return the other.

Any experiences you would like to share?
To be honest, I thought I was going to get married to the person I was singing about in ‘Somebody Like You’. That song is dedicated to my first love. When I made that song, for the first time in my life, I was able to truly express how I felt about that person without feeling a sense of longing or wishing for reconnection. As much as it sounds like a heartbreak song, it’s also like a song of letting go, or moving forward, regardless.

This person was my first love, and I thought, at the time, that it was the best and sweetest thing, and in the same breath, I still seem to be ending up with people who have hints of her character. I guess that’s as a result of the fact that she was my first and most genuine love experience. I have accepted that I don’t even want to be with her, but I’m still out here looking for things or people that have hints of her, hence the song.

Almost like you have a type.
It’s not even just that I have a type. It goes a little bit deeper, because she defined my type. I never knew I had a type till I met her, and I never knew that this was my new type till I left her. She introduced me to the person I became, I guess. I was 16 years old at the time, and that’s always the sweetest time for love.

When you are not making music, what are you typically up to?
Whenever I’m making music, I mostly have anxiety. Still, I like going to the beach. I like being in nature. I play FIFA whenever it is not taking too much of my time. I’m very much an introvert. My job has kind of forced an extroverted side of me.

As an introvert, how does it feel when you get onstage? Ever get nervous?
I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to music. So I make sure I lay my bed well, so when I get on that stage, I’m nothing but confident. I do a lot of work on my live performances, I’m talking rehearsals and all of that.

Do you remember the first time you went on stage?
The first time I performed a song on a stage was in high school. It was in front of the whole school, and it was an original song. I was in a 3-man group called Dkoy, and the school had asked us to perform our song in front of everybody.

Any other memorable experience?
I’ve had many, to be honest. For me, the bigger the crowd, the more excited I am. For some people, it’s the opposite. My performance with Chris Brown in South Africa had 100,000 people there. I did a show in Morocco earlier this year with about 100,000 people as well, and many others like that.

What are your music discovery habits?
Spotify has really helped me a lot because it has a unique algorithm that knows what you like. I don’t pay too much attention to the Top 100, for example. My playlist is very diverse. I don’t just listen for entertainment; I love to break down songs. I love to understand why a song’s chorus works, why a particular melody works, why it takes a particular amount of time for the beat to drop, and all those kinds of things.

I end up listening to music all the way back to the 1930s, just to understand and to see whether there’s consistency in some of these things. You listen to Cuban music from the 1950s and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow!’. So, I have my moments where I’m researching and where I am just listening. I’m trying to understand what inspires the sound a person has. Once you understand the source of the source, you end up going deeper.

Finally, what is your vision in the long run?
Right now, I want to be a dominant force in music. That’s the goal, and we’re doing it step by step with each unique sound I bring to the table.