On a Sunday evening in Lagos, in the XO Bakery lodge, the benches of a popular cafe-bakery in Victoria Island were replaced by mats laid out on the floor for the intimate concert of Lady Donli & the Lagos Panic. The audience, dressed in white as instructed, sat barefoot on mats woven on the floor of this cafe-bakery in Victoria Island, turned into a concert hall for the occasion.
“Welcome To The Panic Room!” The first edition of Lady Donli & the Lagos Panic’s live music sessions, featuring a preview of their new album with diverse influences. “I like to say it’s Afrobeat, but to be honest, it’s a fusion of different things. We are obviously influenced by Fela Kuti and the Afrobeat genre he introduced in Nigeria and Africa. But we are also influenced by highlife music, by the Nigerian pop music known as Afropop. So, it’s a combination. I love jazz, funk, and I have different influences, even in hip-hop,” described Lady Donli.
On stage, the singer is surrounded by four musicians: a bassist, a guitarist, a pianist, and a drummer she has been working with for over five years. “Our music is deeply inspired by our Nigerian roots. We play a lot of percussive music and we want to make people dance, we want them to feel something,” she explains.
Nigerian Pride Originally from Abuja, Lady Donli then moved to Lagos, an endless source of inspiration in her lyrics: “We try to make music that encourages reflection, music that speaks of our reality as Nigerians… of some of the difficulties we face but also of the joy we experience, which is unique to our identity as Nigerians living in Nigeria,” detailed Lady Donli. “Lately, this has been the main theme of my music: encouraging people to feel good. But I also sing a lot about my country, about my desire to see my country and my people do better.”
Directly inspired by Fela Kuti and his famous Afrika Shrine, Lady Donli aims to revive the stage: “One of the things I don’t like about Nigeria is that we don’t have many concert venues. And because of that, you can’t just go out on a Friday night and expect to find live music,” the singer regrets. “The goal of these sessions is to spread joy and revive the scene. As it evolves, I want more musicians to come play their instruments, sing, create an audience and connect with it. For my part, I’m having a lot of fun. I’m just enjoying myself and trying to convey the message of what I love.”
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / YouTube
/2026/04/14/69de3792e7d92786895910.jpg "The Minister of the Interior wants to ban Kanye Wests concert scheduled for June in Marseille due to anti")
