Olajuwon Oluwaseun Opeyemi, better known by his stage name Islambo, isn’t new to the music scene, but the sound he’s pushing in 2024 is nothing like the Islambo people remember. Born in the early ‘90s and raised in Sango Ota, the artist first caught ears with his 2017 love anthem Laiye Laiye, a smooth Afro-Adura tune filled with prayer, soul, and heart. At the time, nobody would’ve guessed he’d be the same person leading a completely different wave today.

Fast forward to now, Islambo is living in Cape Town and turning heads—not just with music, but with an entirely new movement. His genre is Afrobeat, but his mission is introducing “Lamba,” a sound he’s fine-tuned into his signature. It’s catchy, it’s gritty, and it’s proudly street.

And that’s exactly the point.

“It shocks people,” Islambo says. “They still see me as the guy who dropped Laiye Laiye. But that was one chapter. This is another.”

So, is he done with Afro-Adura? Not necessarily. But for now, Islambo is fully focused on carving out space for Lamba in the Afrobeat scene. Whether he’ll stick with it forever is unclear—even he admits he’s still evolving. What is certain, though, is that Islambo is no longer just singing songs—he’s building something bigger: a sound, a style, a new identity.