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L.A.X VibeZ

L.A.X has been reliably making people dance for over a decade without ever quite becoming a household name outside Nigeria. Eighteen tracks suggest that is an oversight.

The consistent hand in Lagos pop

Damilola Afolabi records as L.A.X and came up through Starboy Entertainment — Wizkid's label — before establishing his own imprint, Rasaki Music. That trajectory tells you something: he has been close to the centre of Nigerian pop since the early 2010s without ever being its loudest presence.

His strength is versatility. He moves easily between Afrobeats, dancehall and amapiano-inflected material, and he is a generous collaborator — a large share of his catalogue is features and joint records, which is usually the mark of an artist other artists actually like working with.

What to listen for

"Gobe - Remix" with Tiwa Savage and Simi reaches back to the record that first established him — the original was a Davido-adjacent smash, and this version puts two of Nigeria's finest voices on it.

"Sempe" and "Rora" are his most enduring solo records. "Waist Drop" opens the playlist with intent. "Jara" with Tekno is the collaboration that shows what he does with a stronger melodic partner.

The newer material is where it gets interesting. "Bounce" with Black Sherif pairs him with one of Ghana's most compelling young artists, and the contrast — L.A.X smooth, Sherif raw and half-shouting — is the best thing on the list. "Give You Love" with Juls brings in one of the most tasteful producers working in Afro-fusion.

"Nakupenda" assembles Bella Shmurda, BackRoad Gee and Not3s for a UK-Nigeria crossover, and "Loke" with Magicsticks and "Aje" with Balloranking represent the current sound.

Eighteen tracks of dependable, unpretentious groove. Not every artist needs to be a phenomenon.

Go deeper

His album Zaza Vibes and its follow-ups are the fuller picture, and they show a more consistent writer than the singles trail suggests.

The Starboy connection is the thread to pull. Wizkid's catalogue — particularly Made in Lagos — is the essential context for everything L.A.X does, and the label's roster tells you a lot about how Lagos pop was organised in the 2010s.

Black Sherif deserves following independently; his The Villain I Never Was is one of the most arresting African albums of recent years, drawing on Ghanaian drill and highlife in equal measure. Juls, the producer here, has a superb catalogue of his own that maps the whole Afro-fusion landscape.

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