Lekan Osifeso Jnr. (born 28 April 1996) popularly known as Lojay, is a Nigerian musician, singer, songwriter and performing artist. He peaked at number 8 on the '' billboard U.S. afrobeats songs chart'' with his song ''Monalisa'', in which he features
Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...
and
Sarz
Osabuohien Osaretin (born 17 March 1989), better known by his stage name Sarz, is a Nigerian record producer and musician. Born in Benin City, Edo State, he is popularly known for the tag Sarz On The Beat/"Really", at the beginning or end of all ...
. His song is also the most played
afrobeats
Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...
NotJustOk
NotJustOk is a Nigerian music download website created in June 2006 by Ademola Ogundele. With over 1.2 million viewers per month, from 183 countries, it is one of the most visited websites in Nigeria.
History
Coined from Seth Godin's book '' Pur ...
. He was nominated for ''
The Headies award for next rated
The Headies Award for Next Rated is an award presented at The Headies, a ceremony that was established in 2006 and originally called the Hip Hop World Awards. It was first presented to Aṣa
Bukola Elemide (born 17 September 1982year 2022.
Early life and background
He graduated from the
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...
, UK in 2018. His family lived in
Ikorodu
Ikorodu is a large city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1million inhabitant, Ikorodu is currently the 12 largest city in Nig ...
and then in
Victoria Island
Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...
. As his mother was a pastor, Osifeso went to church regularly, as a family routine during his formative years. While growing up, Chris Brown was one of his favorite singers.
Career
Lojay's stage name is an abbreviation of the first letters of his full name "Lekan Osifeso Junior" (LO-J). He picked interest in music and singing as an adolescent. And pursued his passion through his teenage years. He is fluid with the genre of music he does and switches from one gnere to the other. In an interview with ''Nataal'', he said
He started music professionally in 2016 on a part-time basis while he was still an undergraduate and then went on to focus solely on music after obtaining his degree. In December 2017, Lojay released his debut EP, Midnight Vibes, which consisted of five tracks. The titles of the tracks from the EP are ''Atarodo, Alomo, Kele, 10K Splaw and Whine & Bubble''.
In 2019, he released the single ''Ariel'' and in 2020 he released another single titled ''Ogogoro''. Between his initial sojourn into the music industry in 2016 and the release of his breakout songs in 2021, Lojay dropped several singles including ''Along, Kuli Kuli, Over the Bar'' amongst others.
In May 2021, his sophomore EP titled LV N ATTN (stylized from ''Love and Attention''), which was a duet EP alongside producer
Sarz
Osabuohien Osaretin (born 17 March 1989), better known by his stage name Sarz, is a Nigerian record producer and musician. Born in Benin City, Edo State, he is popularly known for the tag Sarz On The Beat/"Really", at the beginning or end of all ...
, was released. It was a five track EP that contained his breakout singles which he released earlier that year titled ''Tonongo'' and ''Monalisa'', a song he went on to remix with Chris Brown. As well as ''LV N ATTN'', a track with the same name as the EP, in which he featured
Wizkid
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...
. The two other tracks are titled ''Panty!'' and ''Park O X3''. The body of work earned a nomination for
The Headies award for next rated
The Headies Award for Next Rated is an award presented at The Headies, a ceremony that was established in 2006 and originally called the Hip Hop World Awards. It was first presented to Aṣa
Bukola Elemide (born 17 September 1982year 2021/2022. In November 2021, he and
Zlatan Ibile
Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael (born 19 December 1994), known professionally as Zlatan Ibile, is a Nigerian rapper and singer. He is the chief executive officer and founder of Zanku records. In 2014, he won the Airtel-sponsored One Mic talent show held ...
were featured by
DJ Neptune
Imohiosen Patrick (born, 26 September 1990) professionally known as DJ Neptune, is a Nigerian Disc Jockey and Record Producer. He is from a family of four which includes his three elder sisters and him.
Discography
*''Greatness'' (2018)
*''Gre ...
on the song titled ''Only fan''.
In 2022, he took part in the Heineken
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...