During the Cavemen.’s show at the Koko Camden two years ago—their favourite performance to date—Kingsley Okorie, one of two brothers who make up the band, was moved to tears. It is his younger sibling, Benjamin, who tells me this, but what they both share is an awe for a night when they performed in front of a thousand Londoners and heard them scream back their lyrics. As the Cavemen. continue to make new music, expand their fanbase and tour the world, moments like these have become more common, but no less humbling.

Over Google Meets, the Highlife duo are telling me about the genre at the center of their music, and their latest album, ‘Cavy In The City.’ It builds on Highlife as a foundation while incorporating a spectrum of other African and Western sounds, making for their most experimental and sonically ambitious solo album yet. Benjamin is under the weather and so is only in and out of the interview, leaving the more reserved Kingsley to furnish me with most of the details of their upbringing, and how an early exposure to Highlife—from a father who was a major fan of the genre, and a driver that played Oliver De Coque on school trips—shaped the course of their lives.

They eventually became a formal band just after completing tertiary education: Kingsley, after earning a bachelor’s degree in law and finishing the Nigerian Law School; Benjamin, after studies at the Peter King College of Music, Badagry, Lagos. Their debut album, ‘Roots,’ simultaneously introduced them as auteurs of a much-overlooked genre and pioneers of a new iteration of Highlife that still held all the important identifiers. It is rooted in percussion, mostly driven by Benjamin on drums, giving the music an urgent pull to the dance floor. Kingsley’s bass lines supply a sonorous, soulful undercurrent to what is largely easygoing music.

Subsequent albums, ‘Love and Highlife,’ and particularly the brand new ‘Cavy In The City’ are more exploratory, incorporating a lot more Afrobeat, Funk and Jazz woven seamlessly on a base of Highlife. But Kingsley does not see this project as any more experimental than their debut. “We’re always experimenting. To me, when that first album came out, it was an experiment as well. So it’s interesting.” Benjamin later expands on this: “People don’t realize that we also played other styles of music before we became The Cavemen.. So we’re always doing different types of music, we’re experimenting a lot.”

A few of these experiments make ‘Cavy In The City’ the multifaceted, forward-facing album it is. “General” and “Agada” are a pair of songs placed at the heart of the album, stretching its scope. The Angelique Kidjo-featuring “Keep On Moving” is decidedly more African, but it draws equally from Afrofunk as it does from Highlife.

In some ways, The Cavemen. were born into their current path. Kingsley and Benjamin recall playing musical instruments since they were four and two years old, improvising with tables, wooden chairs and generally anything that would make a beat. At the time, the brothers were naturally inclined to the drums, but Kingsley would grow to learn strings as well and become the band’s bass player. They talk about how novel the experience is working as co-captains of the band and being joint conductors of their music. “It’s a unique circumstance,” says Kingsley. “But one thing is that we believe in each other. When somebody says, ‘Ok, this is what I’m thinking,’ the other person leans into it. Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we come up with the ideas at the same time.”

Critically, the brothers are becoming more open to collaborating with other artists. ‘Cavy In The City’ features Beninese powerhouse Angelique Kidjo and British-Gambian rapper Pa Salieu. “We were on the PJ Morton Tour in 2024, and during the tour, the song kept coming to my head,” Kingsley says about “Keep On Moving,” which features Kidjo. “Meanwhile, earlier in 2024, we did some sessions with Angelique Kidjo, and they went so well. We recorded “Keep On Moving” in November last year. We thought it needed an extra kick. We just thought, ‘Okay, let’s send it to Mama, let’s see if she likes it.’ She sent it back to us in four days, and it was perfect.”

Before they made this song, both acts had appeared on Davido’s “NA MONEY,” off his 2023 album ‘Timeless’—a song whose Highlife-leaning direction they undoubtedly engineered. The brothers tell me this is deliberate, the way nearly every guest appearance by The Cavemen. sounds like a song right out of their album. Kingsley says they’re keen “to influence the sound, not just feature,” and spread their musical doctrine wherever they go. 

In recent times, this has also included Asa’s latest album ‘V,’ a feature he describes as a dream come true. “I feel like we are doing it because she did it, we’re artists because she was an artist. So I feel like that collaboration kind of started when we heard her for the first time, in 2009 or so. Fast forward to 2020, we met in person and had a glorious time, we’ve all been very close since then.”

Last year’s joint album with Show Dem Camp, ‘No Love In Lagos,’ is perhaps the clearest expression of The Cavemen.’s vision for collaboration. The synergy between the two duos gives all four acts enough room to express themselves, with The Cavemen.’s choruses intersecting neatly with SDC’s classic Lagos Big Boy rap. “We always love to break records,” Kingsley remarks on the LP. “We always love to extend what is obtainable. And you never just see two duos coming together to do a project.”

For music fans, something about live performances feels ethereal and even transformative; it is for this indescribable feeling that they part with large sums of money to hear songs they already have. The Cavemen. admit that this feeling is the same for them, the performers. “It liberates us when we play in front of people,” Benjamin says. “It amplifies everything. People can really see your true emotions as to why you wrote the song and how the song makes you feel.” 

Seven years after taking music seriously as a profession, it still amazes Benjamin to see audiences sway to their music, especially abroad. “You go to the most random place, and somebody is now saying, ‘E nwere ezigbo nwanyi’, and I’m like, ‘How do you know ‘E nwere ezigbo nwanyi?’” he says with a laugh. “It’s incredible to see, especially Igbo music, travel that far to these tiny little corners in London or Amsterdam or Finland.”

The brothers are aware of their position as ambassadors for Highlife, a role they do not shirk from but also don’t particularly glamorize. Kingsley enjoys the niche they occupy and how it sharply demarcates them from what is currently obtained in Nigerian music.” Nothing beats having your own island,” he says, and what makes them particularly fulfilled is being able to guide a younger generation towards the genre and artists that shaped their own upbringing, becoming vessels for Highlife’s continued legacy. 

‘Cavy In The City’ showcases their talent and range, presenting a collection of songs that reflect on love, life, and relationships while drawing listeners into their effortless, joyful world. The Cavemen. chose their name to reflect the purity and primitiveness of their music, but this band of brothers continues to evolve.

Listen to ‘Cavy In The City’ here.