Nigerian artist Queensley has moved impressively within the entertainment industry. Starting as a songwriter, she’s been active since the turn of the decade, accruing experiences that are now going into her music career. Her latest record, Loke Loke shows a willingness on her part to enter the percussive-led, vibe-heavy presence of the vintage Nigerian pop sound.
One perceives this intent early, with its early rhythmic sections wielding the buttery bounce of dancehall music, but Queensley doesn’t follow that lead, not totally. Rather, she charts the seams of interiority, working up a sensual perspective that’s realized from the drums as much as her vocals. Speaking of her vocals, a bubbly, bright instrument on the level of Niniola, she evokes something of the house-influenced artist’s repertoire in their unbridled evocation of communion.
“Where I wanna be/don’t want no frenemies,” Queensley sings repeatedly in the opening lines of Loke Loke, using these parts to establish the demands of her affection. Later on in the record, the energy is amplified through an even more charged utility behind the drums, whose earthy tones add to the sensuality of the song.
For many years, women musicians have offered a fine counter to the male-dominated perspective on love, lust, and their many variants. Often centralizing their gaze, musicians like Queensley reflect the importance of hearing women sing about what they want, how they want. Loke Loke, from that lens, becomes a hyper-aware record which falls in line with what the Benin-born artist has been about since the beginning of her career.
On Weak Love, she showed a vulnerability that was in line with the tone of the record; raw and affectionately sung, deliberately working up its rough edges so you really felt what she was about. It was no less different on Fantasy, which, although adapting the bubbly overtones of amapiano, was yet a reflection of her emotive abilities.
As these previous records have well demonstrated, she has grown into telling her own stories, and not only crafting narratives for other artists by way of songwriting. In such little time, that skill has consistently uplifted her profile among listeners, suggesting that we’ll be hearing more from Queensley in the years to come.
