Lojay

It all came about around June 2022. I just started making the instrumental at the airport while I was on an 18-hour

layover, so I had plenty of time. I remember we were going to DLT in Malta, and there was somebody I met there, somebody

I had known, to be honest. However, a small situation had occurred, and that was the inspiration for the chorus, where

it was like, “Okay, I’m fine, regardless.” The moment I landed in Malta, I just set up my studio, kept recording, kept

making the beat. I had my friend over, had a long conversation, went to the show, came back, and I just felt I was ready

to speak. I think that same night, the majority of the song was basically done. The only thing we needed was some

additional production, which was completed immediately afterwards. I think that’s why it’s regarded as a love song, even

though it’s a heartbreak song. I think that perspective came from the relationship and interaction I had with that

person in Malta, who was someone that I’d known for a minute. A lot of clarity happened on that trip between the person

and me. I’m not necessarily saying that the song was written for the person, but that was the push to explore that. We

had a North American tour last year, and just being with fans and seeing them experience that song for the first time in

person with me. There’s a way that, the moment the song comes on, the entire mood of the entire venue just changes

because people go from, “Yeah, party, we’re having a good time” to “Oh, I hate that ex of mine” or “I remember the

feeling I had when I first heard this song.” There’s a tone switch that just happens wherever we are whenever the song

comes on, and everyone just mentally shifts at the same time, which is what I think good art is. Right after Malta, I

went to London. I linked up with The Elements, and I just had him put some chords on there, put some chords on it just

to fill it up a little bit. And then I played drums on top of it as well for the second verse. I feel that with each

year that passes, it’s regarded more and more as one of the greatest love songs. I think that in itself is how I want

the narrative to continue to remain, because that was the entire intention of the song. The intention wasn’t to write a

love song or a heartbreak song. It was just to make an honest song, a vulnerable song, something that just felt real and

true. In a lot of ways, I love how different people interpret it in different ways, because some people will genuinely

fight you to the end of time that this is a heartbreak song. Some people will genuinely fight you to the end of time;

that it is not a heartbreak song, it’s a love song. That in itself is a reflection of that level of vulnerability, where

all of us just have different perspectives on it, to be honest.

Initially, when I made “Somebody Like You”, the intention was to create something different, compared to what was

already out in the market for Afrobeats. I just was sifting through different like beats with SARZ, just trying to find

something that I felt was kind of unique in a sense. Then he played the beat for Somebody Like You, and I instantly just

gravitated towards it. It just felt very nostalgic. I think the lyrics kind of just followed in that same direction.

Once I started singing to it, the first thing that just came out of my mouth was; “summertime in Abuja… reliving the

simpler days”. I just kind of built the idea from there. It actually took a while to finish because after I created the

first verse, I had other ideas for a chorus and everything. I revisited the song sometime after, and when I did, it just

felt like everything I needed to say in the song had just come. So I kind of scrapped everything and started with just

the first verse and just entered into a new vibe with the song. The song kind of made itself in a way, because over

time, I think it was just a reflection of all the things I was feeling based on the nostalgia the instrumentals was

giving me and everything. I just felt like I knew what and who I wanted to talk about with that song. And that (person)

was my first love. It all ended up being Somebody Like You.

It was a seamless process because he (Sarz) is not the kind of producer that tries to get in your face. He wants you as

an artist to do your thing. If anything, it’s almost like he’s just trying to get the best out of the artist by letting

them be themselves and not trying to distract their process with his own ideas. It was really fun. When the EP (LV N

ATTN) dropped, Monalisa (from the EP) just started popping on its own. The song just came from nowhere and started doing

its thing. As that was happening, we were like yeah, a remix would be nice and by the end of last year (2021), we were

already thinking of doing a remix. We basically just sent it out to different people that we had in mind that we would

want on the remix. Chris Brown was one of them because he just floated so effortlessly on Afrobeats and we just felt

like he was one of the people who could take it to a whole new place and still maintain the same essence. There was an

air of uncertainty until that happened and then all of a sudden it was time to go.