Lollise cut her teeth playing in the projects Akoya Afrobeat, Underground System, and the FELA! Band, honing an impressive command over Afro-futurist musicianship. She launched her solo career in 2020 with the sun-soaked EP Looking at You. The Brooklyn-via-Botswana artist puts a fresh spin on sounds that defined her youth—everything from Setswana folk to Congolese soukous.
Today [July 10], Lollise announces her full-length debut, I hit the water, out September 6, 2024, via Switch Hit Records. She has also shared the heartfelt & lively lead single “eDube,” which thrums with sonic passion. The song contrasts its lively instrumentation with metaphorical lyrics that grapple with unjust events following her father’s death. Ultimately hoping to assure her dad that things came out alright, “eDube” is accompanied by a vibrant video co-directed by Lollise + Tiffany Smith that compliments the song’s fervent emotion.
Lollise paints the darkest parts of her life with ambitious brush strokes of technicolored melodies and infectious syncopation. “eDube” is an exploration into Lollise’s perspective as an artist while positioning her as a refreshing face in the alt-pop scene. Her worldly influences blend beautifully to create hypnotic grooves and undeniable rhythms. Don’t let the rainbow of drum patterns fool you; Lollise is writing from a deep and personal place. The moving poetry of the single introduces us to a deeper side of the artist, a side that is critically aware of her surroundings and flips her observations into a potent commentary on her past and present environment. “eDube” is our first taste of Lollise’s I hit the water, and it is a catchy statement piece that separates the artist from her pop contemporaries.
“My father died when I was a year old. I imagine driving by the cemetery in a taxi, blasting this song out the window to my dad’s grave. I’m reporting to him the egregious and unjust events that took place following his death and how his family stole everything they could from my mother,” explains Lollise. “During this battle, a hen (a metaphor for my mother) fought valiantly, and although she lost the property and the cows, she protected us kids and maintained her dignity. I reassure him that we turned out alright.”
“I grew up in Francistown, Botswana, a city that has an intense love for Congolese music,” continues the artist. “We worked with the super-talented Congolese guitarist Yohni Djungu Sungu (Loboko), who made the song come alive with his fat bass and shimmering guitar parts. It felt fitting to use this very beautiful music to communicate with my dead father, a music lover.”
