"Alté” in the Nigerian scene is the short form for Alternative music. DRB Lasgidi, a group consisting of Teezee, Fresh L, and BOJ, is credited for coining the term and pioneering a movement. The avant-garde nature of BOJ’s music and style singled him out as a talent whose persona could take him and the alternative sound into the mainstream.

BOJ’s signature raspy voice appealed to a young generation in the 2010s who embraced his differences. However, BOJ realized the box he had to climb out of to reach a position where he could create to the extent of his abilities. Ascending was a slow, steady, and fulfilling process, but on the other side of it, BOJ is glad he stayed true to himself. “People often try to chase things that are not for them, but there’s nothing more gratifying than being yourself and it becoming successful,” he tells Audiomack World.

BOJ stayed resolute through the years, lending his unique voice to a host of artists and maintaining relationships along the way. Early 2016 hits “Omo Pastor” and “Cruella” kept him in the new-school conversation long enough to broaden his network to stars in the mainstream. Boj’s efforts subsequently courted collaborations with Afrobeats heavyweights Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Olamide, and more.

Through serendipity, opportunity meeting preparation, or whatever you may call it, BOJ received a game-changing message from UK rapper Dave’s camp. An opportunity to be on Dave’s 2021 album We're All Alone In This Together led to BOJ’s hook emerging as one of the album’s standouts. Following the release of “Lazarus,” the floodgates opened for BOJ, and he found himself at a new frontier.

BOJ’s star-studded third album Gbagada Express is an ode to his neighborhood and how it has, and continues to, push his career forward. The album upholds the familiar character of BOJ’s music and features Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Fireboy DML, BNXN, Obongjayar, Mr Eazi, ENNY, Victony, and more. In terms of professional growth, Gbagada Express places BOJ at the position he’s craved for so long: outside of a box.

You’re at the forefront of a youth culture movement: Alté. When you began on the alternative journey, did you receive much backlash or resistance?

Yeah, 100%. We definitely received a lot of resistance and backlash that what we’re doing can’t work in the territory we are [in]. But there was always one thing that everyone agreed on, which was that it’s mad music. So I didn’t understand that, it was like they were contradicting themselves. I was just like I don’t get what you guys are saying so I’m gonna carry on doing what I’m doing.

If someone was able to convince me then I’d have gone a different route, but I just couldn’t understand what they kept saying. I just believed that it’d work at some point and that people would catch on [...] I just felt like we were ahead of our time and they didn’t understand yet.

You didn’t sacrifice your musical style to attain mainstream success, however, you seem to be achieving it anyway. How does it feel now to be in this position while having stayed true to yourself?

I think a lot of people might be surprised about what’s happening now, but I’m not. I believed this was going to happen. I feel fulfilled knowing that there’s a gradual process. If you put in the work, you’ll see the result. That’s the major thing people need to understand: not stopping if you believe. I believed strongly so there was nothing that could make me stop.

People often try to chase things that are not for them, but there’s nothing more gratifying than being yourself and it becoming successful. Then you don’t feel any pressure because you’re not trying to do something. It’s just you, and people like it.

I’ve seen people blow up and in two years, they’re struggling again, trying to chase the next trend. That’s because they didn’t stamp their own identity. They didn’t let us know who they were, so whoever was following them wasn’t following them because of them, they were following them because of the kind of songs they were making or the trends they were following. But when you build something real, it just feels better.

I’d assume that lifts some weight off your shoulders of thinking what can I be today, what can I be tomorrow…

I mean, you still have to think of those things ‘cause you still want to evolve. But it’s easier because it’s not that much of a challenge. All you have to do is look within yourself and you’ll find something else. It’s within you. You’re the only one that can bring it out of you.

Gbagada Express is star-studded. How much effort did it take to get that many big names down to adorn the project?

The big names on the album are all people I have a relationship with. Personally, I don’t like to work with people that I feel might be hard to get in the studio. All the big collaborations I have are [with] people I have a personal relationship with.

And if anything, they’ll also want to do it for me because of the relationship we have. A lot of my whole career has been based on relationships. I never really had the financial aspect going for me; it’s all based on relationships and goodwill.

The only collaboration I didn’t actually go after was the Wizkid one, which fell in my lap. I do have a relationship with Wiz, but not like everyone else. I just got a random call one day that Wiz wants to jump on “Awolowo,” so I sent him the instrumental and he did his thing ASAP.

The album was also an ode to where you come from. Why did you make that artistic decision at this point?

I think it just made sense, you know? After I moved out of my family house… most people would think that when you get enough money to move out, you move to the Island, if you live on the Mainland. You know how it is, the stigma of Mainland and Island in Lagos. So I stayed there. I really wanted to get the message across that you can build from where you are and do crazy things no matter what. If I’m comfortable there, there’s no need for me to go anywhere else. It’s just the music that needs to travel, and that’s why it’s called Gbagada Express.

I went to school in England, so things like Heathrow Express, trains that go fast, they have a different route and they get to places even quicker than the other trains. It wasn’t even about the speed or the rate at which I’m going, it was just about the fact that I’m going to get there. Not to be cliché but Gbagada to the world, this is the root.

Your contribution to Dave’s “Lazarus” was huge. Was there a noticeable shift in your career before and after the Dave feature?

Of course. I had to hold my album back because of that feature because I got a lot more opportunities. Like I said, most of the things I do are based off goodwill, so me knowing that this feature is going to bring better platforms for me to be able to put my album on and for it to be able to reach more people… I had to hold it back and stamp those platforms and opportunities so that it could translate into the album.

How did that feature come together?

It was actually Donawon, one of Tems’ managers who has a relationship with Dave, and I think Dave hit him up looking for a hook from a Nigerian in a local language. So Donawon sent him a couple of people, myself included, and Dave asked whether I could do the hook. I recorded and sent it to him and the rest is history.

What drives you the most to keep going?

The fact that I feel like I understand my purpose. I can’t stop. What would be the point of being here if I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do?

And also, family. Knowing I can do things for my family, my girlfriend. When I started dating my girlfriend it gave me a new drive. Those are the kinds of things I think about when I’m in the studio like yeah, this is what’s going to make us rich or comfortable.

My whole thing is about comfortability. I can go all out just to be comfortable. I can’t spend one million Naira on drinks in the club but I can spend one million on a mad hotel room where I’d be mad comfy. I want to be able to sustain that lifestyle for me and mine.

What are the dreams you’re currently having that you’d like to speak into existence? Manifest, if you will.

Eventually running a label or something bigger than me… It’s already things I’m doing but I want to do it on the highest level where I can create platforms for people. Knowing the challenges I faced, I just want to make it easier for guys and girls coming in.

That’s really my dream. That’s something so gratifying, when you can spot a diamond in the rough and be able to elevate them. Whether it’s to link them with a collaboration, or getting them a distribution deal, or even people that have been doing this for a while that have mad catalogs and just helping them sort out their publishing deals. Stuff like that, you know? I want to do that at the highest level.

And just create this bridge that links the people that are from where I’m from, to the world. I want to be a part of creating that bridge and closing that gap. I feel like that’s my purpose. I’ve realized I’ve made a lot of good relationships over the years and I can’t really use some of those relationships for myself, there might be other people that need those relationships that don’t have any access to it. I want to be able to connect those guys and just be part of something that’s way bigger than me because that’s how you live forever.

Photos by Ibro Snaps and Adeolu Osibodu.

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