When you speak about the underground rave scene in Lagos and Nigeria, you wouldn’t have made it two sentences in without mentioning Blak Dave. Born David Olubaji, Blak Dave transitioned from being a frontend engineer to being an afrohouse DJ at a time when the Lagos party scene was being dominated by Afrobeats and Amapiano sets, creating a place for him and people like him to take over the scene.
House Music lovers like to joke that Blak Dave opened the portal for tech bros to transition into DJ-ing, and while that may not be 100% true, his influence on the scene cannot be denied. From working with Aniko – the convener of Group Therapy, what is arguable the biggest AfroHouse Rave in Nigeria and West Africa, to Proton, and bringing Jnr SA to Lagos, there may be some element of truth in the joke.
Blak Dave and Friends was originally meant to be a birthday party, but it spiralled into becoming one of the many raves that Blak Dave shook Lagos with. Despite its unplanned nature, Blak Dave and Friends brought hundreds of people to celebrate his birthday.
For its second edition, it’s a more planned, a 12 hour party bringing Jnr SA and DJ Lag all the way from South Africa to Lagos for a party. Nigerian DJs aren’t left out, from Tobi Peters to Abiodun to WeAreAllChemicals to Sigag Lauren to Proton, and so much more, 12 hours of Groove doesn’t sound as unbelievable as it did initially.
