Ever since Johnny Drille emerged in 2015 with the folk-inspired “Wait for Me,” the Lagos-based artist has moved through sounds with the guile of an accomplished performer, fluidly experimenting with pop, electronic, and R&B. Those creative sojourns would help facilitate the homecoming to Afropop that was 2024’s Hard Guy Confessions, a collaborative tape with label boss, Don Jazzy. On sophomore solo outing Before the Morning Light, Drille continues to experiment with Afropop elements, never compromising the buoyant, alté-indebted charm that made him. Drille’s ambitions of sonic malleability are intact across Before the Morning Light. Album opener “In Time,” a collaboration with Beninese icon Angélique Kidjo, dextrously blends R&B and soul with traditional African percussion. “Colorado,” featuring Ayra Starr and Young Jonn, sports a modernist hue, Drille sharing insight on dealing with romantic angst. On “Over the Moon” with Tiwa Savage and “Angelina” with Fireboy DML, he’s displaying a keen aptitude for Afropop’s cadences and rhythmic traditions. And even in embracing home, Drille is operating with a balladeer’s soul, like on piano-led “Blown Away,” which accessorizes the instrumental with silky strings and melting percussion. He’s reverential of a lover’s hold on him once again on “Chokehold” with Canadian Jamaican singer Aqyila. Time and time again across Before the Morning Light, Drille reminds us his core remains tethered to romantic nirvana and he will always inch towards it, something he cements with a closing set of “Speak Up,” “What Is This Love,” and “Second Chance.”