Sarz And Lojay Open Up About Collaborating With Chris Brown On ‘Monalisa’. Osabuohien Osaretin, better known by his stage name Sarz, is a Nigerian record producer and musician. Born in Benin City, Edo State, he is popularly known for the tag Sarz On The Beat/”Really”, at the beginning or end of all his music productions. Lojay on the other hand, is also a Nigerian musician, singer, songwriter and performing artist. He peaked at number 8 on the billboard U.S. afrobeats songs chart with his song Monalisa, in which he features Chris Brown and Sarz.
Monalisa’ flew out the gate and rapidly grew into one of the standout hits of the year. Blending Afrobeats and the distinct sounds of Amapiano, which is becoming increasingly popular across the world, ‘Monalisa’s’ hybrid sound came at just the right time. The genre of the song has been a topic of much conversation. The original and the remix have been hugely popular in South Africa where it peaked at #1 on the official radio charts (Rams), and local audiences, who are typically very suspicious of Amapiano spinoffs from foreign musicians, have embraced the song.
It all began in the heart of the 2020 lockdown when the Lagos-based Lojay, who was at the time a relatively unknown Afro-fusion artist finding his feet, was introduced to the veteran Afrobeats super-producer Sarz by his lawyer, who is a mutual friend of theirs.Sarz was intrigued by the prospect of working with an up-and-comer and found himself drawn toward the young artist’s vocal delivery. “First of all, I love challenges. Second of all, he has a very unique tone, like when you hear his voice it stands out — well at least it stands out to me. There’s something about his tone that I felt like I could harness and make the world listen. I’m also always looking for challenges, that’s what keeps me going,” Sarz told The Africa Report.
They then started putting together a shortlist of artists that they felt were suitable for the 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,” Lojay revealed.
After they sent it to him, Lojay said Brown sent his verse back very quickly and without much fuss.“It was seamless,” he said. “There was an air of uncertainty until that happened and then all of a sudden it was time to go.” Today, the ‘Monalisa’ remix continues on this success and makes a mark globally. Lojay is finding this entire experience exhilarating.
