My first time at a rave, I got there by 10 p.m. and left less than twenty minutes later because, well, I now realize it hadn’t even started. But when I went back for a second go, this time arriving around midnight, I was introduced to a whole new world. Also in Lekki Phase 1, the warehouse was packed with hundreds of people spanning different age groups, all with glittery eye makeup, brightly-colored hair, and shorts so short that traditional Nigerian clubs would surely turn them away—everyone was swaying to the beat thumping from the speakers. Hours were spent kissing, dancing, grinding, talking, shouting, and laughing with new and old friends. By the time I was on my way home at 5 a.m., rumpled clothes, dilated pupils, and all, the only thing on my mind was: I am coming back.
‘‘To pinpoint when exactly it started would be difficult,’’ says Jarlight, an EDM DJ based in Lagos, who has played at raves like Sweat It Out and Retrograde, while also working as a resident DJ at popular party House on The Reef. ‘‘Most of the raves started with people throwing private parties,” he says. “DJs would bring their decks over to a friend’s house and before you knew it it was a party.’’ Jarlight also credits raves like Element House for shaping the community, noting it as “one of the first, if not the first, to play Afrohouse in clubs around Lagos.”
During the loneliness of COVID-19 lockdowns, many in Lagos began to reevaluate their social lives—and take them underground. ‘‘How Nigerians socialize has changed significantly post-COVID,’’ says Ejiro Otiotio, one-half of the popular DJ duo, Sons of Ubuntu. ‘‘During the lockdown, we saw people opting to socialize in more intimate and private spaces. [In turn] raves quickly became popular due to their anti-establishment and underground nature.’’
For others, it was the ENDSARS movement, a string of protests against police brutality, specifically against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which ended with 12 people killed in October 2022, that drove them to EDM. ‘‘I believe the ENDSARS protests, more than anything, triggered a new wave of freedom,’’ says Nelson C.J, a Nigerian culture writer whose work has explored the rise of raving in Lagos. ‘‘Young Nigerians were tapping into parts of themselves that would otherwise have been shunned before the protests, which highlighted the power of the youth. EDM spaces and raves function based on unrestricted, judgement-free gatherings. With a new generation closely aligned with those virtues, it makes sense why raves have become popular.’’
Sweat It Out currently averages around 2,000 attendees per rave—so large that in December 2022 it had to host one event across two different locations to meet the demand (I went to both). Most recently, they created a subscription-based service for their core fan base. That December, Activity Fest also hosted an EDM festival on the beach, complete with two gigantic holograms on both sides of the stage.
