Why does a UK dance magazine landing in Lagos matter?
Mixmag's The Lab is the outlet's long-running filmed DJ session, the format that made its name putting artists behind the decks in London before expanding to New York, Los Angeles and beyond. On Saturday, August 10, it staged its first ever West African edition, and it picked Element House in Lagos over any of the diaspora scenes in London, Paris or Toronto that usually get first dibs on "African electronic music" coverage. That choice alone is the story: a UK institution finally treating Lagos as a source scene, not a subject to be covered from abroad.
Who actually played?
The bill leaned entirely on people who already run the city's dancefloors. Momoda, the Lebanon-born, Barcelona-based DJ, closed out a summer of European touring with a headline slot built on his blend of afro house and techno. Icey followed, and he did not need an introduction in the room: he holds down a residency at Element House and just landed his first release on Defected Records. Mixmag filmed and livestreamed both headline sets, and Icey's is already up on the outlet's YouTube channel.
Support came from Sons of Ubuntu, Dèjì and Weareallchemicals, three names any regular at Element House would recognise on sight, proof this was booked as a scene showcase rather than a fly-in headliner package.
What is Element House, and why this venue?
Element House bills itself as Lagos' home for "premiere dance music," run by the team behind Spektrum Entertainment.
"A team of passionate individuals who have collectively contributed to Lagos' music scene over the past nine years."
That's Element House's own description of itself, and it's the detail that matters here: Mixmag didn't parachute a one-off party into a random room, it plugged into a venue with a track record.
