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The rapper reflects on his cross-cultural impact, the Swiss and Nigerian underground scenes, returning to his roots, and the Africa Only movement.
September 29, 2026
When I first came across the music video for “Best Time” years ago—drawn in by the guest appearance of East London artist 00ab— the setting looked strangely familiar, but I chose to go against my gut feeling. At the time, I had convinced myself that the still relatively unknown artist was most likely a Brit; another emerging voice trying to make a name for himself in the ever-changing UK underground.
Then, in March this year, I was surprised to see that the same gent skipping rocks at a Lagos beach in the video for “10 AM IN LAGOS,” moving toward a distinctively more African rhythm. I presumed Africa Only was another subculture of Nigeria’s fast-growing underground scene. Little did I know, after swiping through a random Instagram post, the artist who had been silently grinding for years was actually from Switzerland. That detail sparked something in me and led me down a rabbit hole with no obvious end.
The more I researched him, the more intrigued I became. Footage of him with German rapper NANA LE VRAI at concerts across Europe began to surface. Who was this underground artist with ties to Switzerland, Nigeria, and even North America, yet fitting somewhere between all of them—and in none of them at the same time? And why did his name keep appearing around a growing community of artists, sounds, and ideas centered on Africa? From the spread of Africa Only, supported by the likes of Atlanta rapper Pz’, twin models Whak & Mo, to co-signs from JELEEL! and British actor Aaron Pierre, as well as his own radio presence with NTS Radio, it became increasingly clear that this artist’s story extended far beyond a handful of releases.
Pax Anthony, better known as Paxslim, isn’t simply making music for the moment; he’s particularly interested in creating a world around it—one shaped by music, community, identity, and a strong instinct to evoke an emotion. Through his work, he seeks to connect different parts of his background and the wider African diaspora, while creating a space that feels distinctly his own. An artist quietly developing within the DACH space before disappearing to his homeland two years later, Paxslim seemed to be following a path that was difficult to pin down—but increasingly difficult to ignore. And perhaps that’s the gut feeling that stuck with me all along: this is someone I ought to have been paying closer attention to.
Pigeons & Planes sat down with Paxslim to explore how his unique upbringing fed his vision, informed his evolving sound, and helped shape the communities and movements around him—and where he aims to expand next. The LAMBO MUSIC EP is out now.
First and foremost, would you like to introduce yourself to the P&P readers?
Yeah, my artist name is Paxslim. Born in Nigeria, I was raised in three places— Nigeria, Canada, and Switzerland.
I make music, and I have a movement called Africa Only that I started a year ago.
How would you best describe your sound?
Old Wizkid in his 2014 era. It has dancehall and reggae mixed with Afrobeats. Take all of those, and mix it with melodic rap like SahBabii and old Migos, with the banging 808s and hi-hats.
You mentioned Canada and Switzerland. What do you remember about those times?
I was born in Jos, Nigeria. I lived back and forth between Jos, Abuja, and Kaduna until I was four.
Then, I moved to Switzerland; from there to Toronto, Canada, then back to Nigeria. At around fourteen, I moved back to Switzerland again, and stayed for several years.
When I was twenty-three, I moved back to Nigeria. That was two years ago now. I’ve been traveling a lot and have lived in different places. Going from Nigeria to a predominantly white country where nobody looks like you was interesting, but I learned the language quickly. I picked up Swiss German and then German.
It was definitely confusing for a lot of people, like, ‘Why is this guy that lives in Switzerland rapping in English?,’ but it was always just the easiest way for me. I was exposed to English-speaking countries for a good ten years of my life, and then a good twelve years on the German-speaking side. I was doing metal engineering, like welding and all that, and worked in that field for five years. Then, I decided to take music seriously two years ago. That’s also when I decided to move to Nigeria and really reconnect with my roots.
What difference do you notice in Swiss music, from the songs that played or the artists that used to be around, compared to the scene today?
We call it DACH. It stands for Deutschland (Germany), A is Austria, and CH is for Switzerland. Growing up in the German part of Switzerland, there was this popular Austrian rapper called Yung Hurn. There were also RIN, Ufo361, Capital Bra, and all of these people. I didn't personally listen to them. I was always listening to American music like Rae Sremmurd, Migos, and Lil Durk. I had always been very into English-speaking music; the German scene never really caught my attention, even though I would still hear it around me because of my friends.
The shift happened in 2022 when Germany and Austria started getting more of an underground scene. You had Pashanim, Symba, etc. The first person who reached out to me was Nana Le Vrai. He brought me in, and every time he had a show in Austria, Switzerland, or somewhere, he would ask me to come. That's how I got introduced to the scene.
Since then, it's just been a thing where we all kept making music, and everybody got bigger and bigger. There were more parties; there were more concerts people got invited to. It was really interesting to see how, even though I was making English music, they accepted it. I remember having a conversation with Symba one time when I was in Berlin, and he was asking me like, ‘Yo, why don't you make music in German?,’ and I was just like, ‘Man, it's easier for me to express myself in English. It's more natural for me.’
There’s a particular sound emerging in Germany from artists like Blumengarten and Cíntia Sofia that blends electronic and house influences. At the same time, Supremnova, from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, is gaining momentum. What do you make of this? Do you see it becoming the next movement in the DACH scene?
This type of music has always been around. It's cool that now it's reaching more people. It's definitely something that was missing in music: just people having open ears to different languages and just feeling the music instead of always understanding what people are saying. It went viral in America; it's cool to see Americans translating and actually realizing that it means you're good enough (“Gut Genug” by Blumengarten). It’s a positive message, so I'm not surprised that it blew up.
Supremnova is almost in her own bubble. It's cool to take inspiration from where you're from or even other places you admire and make your own mixture. If more people looked at it that way, then there would definitely be more music popping in Switzerland. The French bar has always been more relevant in Switzerland because France is right next to it and the French music scene is also very big. German as well, but I don't think there have been too many German-speaking artists from Switzerland who really popped off in Germany. That's why I think she can definitely go super far. She makes good music.
When did you begin fusing local Nigerian sounds and where does the Africa Only movement fit into that story?
I remember when I was like ten years old, my dad showed me the first Nigerian music video I'd ever seen, Wizkid's “Holla at Your Boy.” Growing up in Toronto, you would see Justin Bieber on TV and all these people, but I didn't know we had that back home as well. Since then, I just fell in love with Afrobeats. I always wanted to make that type of music, but the problem was that I grew up abroad. When I was in Switzerland around seventeen, I downloaded GarageBand and started figuring out how I could make music. Funny enough, the first song that I ever released was called “Bless Me,”
recorded on GarageBand on my phone.
To make the type of music they make in Nigeria, I realized at a very young age that I actually have to experience Nigeria. In 2019, the type of music I made sounded very different because I was listening to a lot of American music. When you're young, you take influences from everywhere, and then you try to create your own sound. The sound I'm making right now started when I dropped my mixtape Dancing. The song “L.O.V.E” has a lot of Afrobeats influence. I knew I had to be in Nigeria more or eventually move here. One of the alté pioneers, Odunsi the Engine, was the first person in Nigerian music to bring me in and show me around. He introduced me to the scene and introduced the scene to me. I really thank him for that.
How do you feel about the NigerianUG label? Do you see yourself as part of that scene?
Everybody takes inspiration from Alté; there would be no NigerianUG scene without it. The Alté are more international. All of them go out and perform in different cities and countries, which the UG in Nigeria doesn't really do yet. All the shows of the UG are in Nigeria right now. I think it’s gonna happen, but that’s the main difference. Seeing the Alté scene spread its wings definitely influences us—all the Nigerian kids—like, ‘Yo, we can also do this.’
I just see myself as a guy that's all over the place, really. I'm tapped in with American, UK, German, French, and Nigerian artists, but I'm just happy that Nigerians are eating up my music the most. I'm definitely a part of whatever is going on here because I'm around these guys. They come to my house, we record. I go to their studios, we record. Obviously every artist has their own journey, but they should not forget where they came from and who they were around. I feel like once you do that as an artist, your support system will always be there, because some artists get super mainstream, and then, ‘No, I don't know you guys. Yeah, I'm with these guys now.’ Some people do that.
What made you want to create the Africa Only movement, and what does it represent to you?
It was never something I sat down and thought about. It was just me being like, ‘I grew up in Switzerland, but I'm Nigerian at the end of the day; that's where I was born and where my parents are from.’ I'm super happy I grew up in Switzerland, and I can definitely claim that I'm a Swiss-Nigerian or Nigerian-Swiss artist because that's where I started making music and where I got my first support system. To me, Africa Only was about claiming my roots.
When I started doing #AO, it was more for the kids in the diaspora that resonated with me. I remember Pz’ had posted a picture of him in a private jet with Playboi Carti. I took a screenshot, reposted it on Instagram, and captioned it, “Africa Only.” From there, I kept just saying and putting the Africa Only watermark on my video. As it grew, everybody had their own meaning. To me, it was about connecting with your roots and being proud of where you’re from. Now I’m working with a lot of people who claim where they’re from and want to learn more about their roots or go back home. There's also #AO radio on NTS, where we cover 54 countries in the whole of Africa. We've already done South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ghana, and the next one is Uganda.
Is there a project you're currently working on?
Yeah, I'm working on my album that I'm trying to release at the beginning of next year. I'm bringing all my producers over here to Nigeria so that we can work. I hope I can have a French artist. I definitely want Morty to be on my next tape.