Laime caused a bit of a stir days ago when a video of him performing one of his new songs drew comparisons with Burna Boy. That incident, whether engineered or coincidental, forced many to wake up and take note of Laime, a wonderful talent that has been around for a while. On the back of that free promotion and his newly released, stellar E.P., perhaps the patient dog is about to eat the fattest bone.
Born Onisolaime Bennibor, Laime is an Afrofusion singer and songwriter in his fifth year in the music industry. The Rivers-born and Lagos-bred singer fell in love with the idea of making music after listening to P Square’s debut album as a child. Now 26 years of age, he is living his dream with millions of streams and 129,000+ Spotify monthly listeners to show for his effort.
In his half a decade of being in the game, Laime has built a discography that runs deep in quality and quantity. That has helped him build a base of loyal fans who buy his talent anytime his music comes up on social media. Laime’s talents have also earned him the respect of many of his peers, which is why he’s been able to score top collaborations despite being an independent artist for most of his career. Buju, BadBoyTimz, Lojay, PsychoYP, Odumodublvck, Zlatan, and L.A.X. are some artists who have contributed to his discography.
Laime prides himself on the unpredictability of his music, a quality he has developed from the diversity of his musical interests. He grew up listening to Afrobeats, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Highlife; those genres are well represented in his discography, particularly the first three. His unpredictability extends beyond his sound to his flow and delivery. You can never tell for sure how Laime will attack an instrumental. He could go in hard and heavy like on 2021’s “Purple Rain” or play it cool and calm like on “Higher Vibrations” from the year before. Either way, you’re guaranteed a good record, and that level of versatility does add credence to the Burna Boy comparisons. But make no mistakes about it: while there might be similarities in their cadences, Laime is very much a unique act with an original style.
The evidence to support that claim is abundant in his newly released E.P. Released on November 3, “Naughty by Nature” is his third project and first since signing with Apex Village. It comprises 8 songs, led by “7 in the Morning” with Lojay and “Where Dem Dey” with Odumodublvck. Both of those tracks have racked up a combined 2 million streams on Spotify alone, but they’re just a portion of the goodness the project has to offer. There’s “Signs,” the romantic track which sparked the Burna comparisons, and the hustlers’ anthem “Aye Ole!” Across the tracks on “Naughty by Nature,” Laime unveils different facets of his immense talents without failing to entertain at any point.
Laime has patiently waited his turn while acts like Lojay and Buju, whom he came up with, have gone on to do big things. If there’s any justice in the world, it’s his turn now. If you need more reasons to root for him, stream his latest project once and be convinced for life.
