tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/west-african-music-118705/articlesWest African music – The Conversation2023-11-09T14:10:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2162872023-11-09T14:10:40Z2023-11-09T14:10:40ZKora: in search of the origins of west Africa’s famed stringed musical instrument<p>“How come we’ve never heard of this beautiful instrument until now?” This was posted by a first-year college student to my world music course discussion board recently. He voiced what many of his peers probably felt after watching the extraordinary documentary <a href="https://www.womex.com/virtual/piranha_arts_1/event/ballake_sissoko_kora">Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://vimeo.com/805181419/7fd122d3aa">film</a> follows <a href="https://www.ballakesissoko.com/en/">Sissoko</a>, a world class musical artist, from his home in Bamako, Mali to a sacred well and baobab tree in The Gambia on the Atlantic coast. In the film, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTzlFlG86qA">award-winning</a> Sissoko revisits his childhood homeland and traces the origins of the instrument that became his destiny. </p>
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<p>Sissoko is a jeli (called a griot by outsiders) – a hereditary oral historian and musician attached to the ruling class. Like generations before him, he plays the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501115">kora</a>, a unique kind of harp that’s indigenous to the western African savannah. It has 21 strings and is played with four fingers. And it can create dazzling, dense musical textures as well as thin shimmering veneers that accompany the delivery of deep oral history. It is one of the most sophisticated handmade musical instruments in the world, both in its musical capabilities and the depth of its tradition.</p>
<p>Ballaké Sissoko: Kora Tales is a beautifully made film that should be seen by everyone interested in African culture and history.</p>
<h2>Kora’s global spread</h2>
<p>If you haven’t heard of the kora, it’s not for lack of exposure. Dozens and dozens of kora albums have been released since Gambian <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jali-nyama-suso-mn0000782773#biography">Jali Nyama Suso</a>’s debut solo album in 1972. The kora has won more Grammy Awards in the World/Global Music category than the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/sitar">sitar</a>. An <a href="https://seckoukeita.bandcamp.com/album/african-rhapsodies">album</a> featuring the kora with the BBC Symphonic Orchestra was released in 2023. The reach of the kora beyond western Africa is <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hfZqOzSQplKqClwf0gMRn?si=bdcd4e9447e746f3">expansive</a>. It can be heard on recordings by musicians across the world. </p>
<p>I first heard the kora on a 1973 album by Gambian <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/alhaji-bai-konte-mn0000003544">Alhaji Bai Konte</a>. It was an early formative experience that put me on the path towards becoming an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Eric+Charry&btnG=">ethnomusicologist</a>. In the 1980s, Senegalese-American kora player <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/04/09/djimo-kouyate/d73afa76-13bc-4cce-82a4-2accdde56373/">Djimo Kouyate</a> inspired me to study regional differences in kora playing in four neighbouring countries. I wound up in Bamako, living three doors down from Ballaké Sissoko, studying with <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/991801-Sidiki-Diabat%C3%A9">Sidiki Diabaté</a> (father of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/toumani-diabate-sidiki-kora-music-industry-family">Toumani</a>), who lived two doors down. That became the basis of my first book in 2000, <a href="https://echarry.faculty.wesleyan.edu/mande-music/">Mande Music</a>.</p>
<h2>The history</h2>
<p>Constructed from a large half calabash, cowhide, thick wooden neck and leather tuning loops and strings (now nylon), the kora is several centuries old. Precursors go back much further.</p>
<p>It is intimately intertwined with the history of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mande">Mande</a> homeland along the Niger River, slicing through modern-day Mali and Guinea. This chiefdom rose to power in the 1200s when the legendary Sunjata conquered an oppressive king, Soumaoro Kante, with the help of neighbouring allies. Kante owned the primordial bala (also called <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/balla-kouyate">balafon</a>), a magical xylophone, which was passed on to the jeli (griot) of Sunjata. His name was Balla Faséké Kouyaté and his direct descendants guard that very instrument in a hut in northeastern Guinea. </p>
<p>In 2008 Unesco declared the instrument a site of intangible cultural heritage and today a museum is being constructed on the <a href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/cultural-space-of-sosso-bala-00009">site</a>. At its height, the Mande empire extended across much of western Africa and its mines supplied most of the gold circulating in Europe. A visit to Mecca by Mande king <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Musa-I-of-Mali">Mansa Musa</a> in the 1300s secured his reputation as one of the <a href="https://money.com/the-10-richest-people-of-all-time-2/">wealthiest people</a> in the history of the world. Migrations westward to the Senegambia region led to the development of a related language and culture, Mandinka.</p>
<p>Just as the bala (Mande xylophone) has origins in Mali in the 1200s, the kora has origins in the Kaabu federation of the Senegambian Mandinka in the 1700s. Traditionally, jelis have the exclusive right to play both of these instruments. Many origin stories of musical instruments in Africa refer to a jinn (genie) first bringing it out. So it is with the kora. </p>
<h2>What the film is about</h2>
<p>One of my favourite lines in the documentary comes from Sissoko’s aunt Kadiatou Diabaté, herself a jeli: </p>
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<p>This person before you, he was born with the kora. The seventh generation of his lineage. Even if you just touch him, out comes the sound of one of the strings. </p>
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<p>Travelling by car, Sissoko leaves his capital city Bamako for a voyage of over 1,000km west to the birthplace of the kora on the Gambian coastline. All of this was part of the Mande empire at its height, as far as the northern reaches of the Niger River at Timbuktu. Sissoko stops at Sibi, where Sunjata is said to have united his armies, made pacts and created the governing constitution of what would become the largest empire in Africa.</p>
<p>The cinematography of the countryside, much of it from aerial drones, is magnificent. Passing through southern Senegal, they cross the Casamance River by boat for a visit with kora master Malan Diébaté. This is kora country and a half dozen kora players appear, singing the praises of Sissoko and his lineage. </p>
<p>They are accompanied by the women in their extended family tapping out a diasporic source of the signature Cuban <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-about-music-clave-rhythm-definition-and-examples">clave pattern</a>. </p>
<p>Diébaté recounts the supernatural origins of the kora, and Sissoko takes off for that very spot, Sanementereng in The Gambia. In one sense all musical instruments are magical, given the impact they may have on our lives. Widespread oral traditions attribute the origins of the kora to this specific place on the Gambian coast. When Sissoko arrives here towards the end of the documentary, at a sacred well and a baobab tree that marks the spot, it is a moving experience.</p>
<h2>Inspiring work</h2>
<p>The writers and directors of the film, Lucy Durán and Laurent Benhamou, have done inspiring work in conveying the beauty of the landscape, the depth and humanity of the tradition, and the artistic persona of Sissoko. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/lucy-duran">Professor</a> of music and former <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/4TSBr0qL391y8lDnM4NZHVM/lucy-duran">radio presenter</a> Durán has an awesome track record in this part of the world over many decades, from producing early albums by Toumani Diabaté and other Malian artists to <a href="https://www.growingintomusic.co.uk/">Growing Into Music</a>, a pioneering documentary <a href="https://www.growingintomusic.co.uk/mali-and-guinea-music-of/films-of-growing-into-music.html">film series</a> laying bare the process of children learning the musical arts of jelis in Mali and Guinea. </p>
<p>Narrated by French-Malian rap star <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/oxmo-puccino-mn0000502254#biography">Oxmo Puccino</a>, the documentary takes you deep into one of Africa’s great classical traditions through the eyes of one of its great artists. For the eyes, ears and collective cultural memory, this film is a treasure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216287/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Charry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The extraordinary documentary Ballaké Sissoko: Kora Tales takes a journey from Mali to The Gambia.Eric Charry, Professor of Music, Wesleyan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880802022-08-11T15:25:24Z2022-08-11T15:25:24ZHow Burna Boy set the world alight with his mixed brew of influences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478504/original/file-20220810-590-s2rtpf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Burna Boy promotes his new album Love, Damini in the US.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prince Williams/Wireimage</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigerian Afrobeats star <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/burna-boy-mn0003297650/biography">Burna Boy</a> burst onto the global stage in 2018 with a slew of irresistible hits on his third album, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4wXXJEoblA">Outside</a>, accompanied by mandatory fiendish good looks and charm. <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/burna-boy/251682">Grammy</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsvCb59TcDk">BET</a> awards helped firm up his status within a highly competitive global music industry. </p>
<p>Before his international success, which has been cemented by his latest offering <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/burna-boy-love-damini-album-stream-1235109630/">Love, Damini</a> (2022), Burna spent years experimenting with different sounds in London and South Africa and his ragga-inspired vocal style became distinctive.</p>
<p>His 2014 contribution to South African hip hop mainstay AKA’s infectious song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuXDU-V954">All Eyes on Me</a> first put him on the African radar. His smouldering hook on the multiple award-winning track made all the difference and demonstrated he was an artist to watch, channelling both West African and Jamaican musical flavours.</p>
<p>Although he was deemed talented by his South African hip hop peers, his shine remained somewhat muted. He had to return to his native Nigeria to attain the level of success he obviously yearned: awards, global tours and A-class industry connections.</p>
<p>Although he rose in a whirlwind, with an enigmatic combination of singing styles and influences, Burna Boy has, at least for the moment, become mainstream; a slightly compliant agent of the commercial music industry. (The same is true of most of today’s Afrobeats stars, even if this is a Faustian truth everyone might choose to ignore.)</p>
<p>On Love, Damini (he was born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu) Burna still exudes just the right amount of foreboding and palpable intrigue to remain credible as an artist. But how much of his much-touted originality does he have left? Perhaps a way to begin to answer this question is to revisit his musical influences.</p>
<h2>Spotting his influences</h2>
<p>It is difficult not to love club bangers such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-h7ltwACLs">Soke</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPe09eE6Xio">Ye</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7WfPHHXCAY">Gbona</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl8Aod0Tl0">On the Low</a>, all produced before Burna Boy’s groundbreaking 2021 Grammy win with his fifth album, <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/burna-boy-twice-as-tall/">Twice as Tall</a> (2020). </p>
<p>In most of these songs, Fela Kuti’s influence is crystal clear in samples and the unequivocal lifting of various hooks. For many, it seemed like Burna was Kuti’s heir apparent. </p>
<p>From the late 1960s Nigerian musician and singer Kuti, along with his amazing bands, almost single-handedly pioneered a genre called <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/afrobeat-music-guide#what-is-afrobeat">Afrobeat</a>. This sound incorporated strong Pan Africanist politics, intricate call and response singing, and heavy West African drumming laced with enticing jazz and funk riffs. <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeat-history">Afrobeats</a> is an umbrella term for a more radio-friendly and commercial version of Kuti’s Afrobeat. </p>
<p>Burna Boy’s Kuti credentials appear impeccable. His maternal grandfather, the broadcaster and jazz enthusiast Benson Idonije, had <a href="https://guardian.ng/art/dis-fela-sef-a-benson-idonije-memoir/">managed</a> Kuti in the 1960s. In one <a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/bose-ogulu-burna-boy-mom-manager-fela-kuti-dancer-okayafrica-100-women-2019/">interview</a>, his mother and manager, business woman Bose Ogulu, reportedly refers to Kuti as the closest thing she had to a godfather.</p>
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<p>Burna has also been influenced by ragga, dub and grime ever since his days as a student in the UK. The foundations of these genres were laid mainly in Jamaica but found fresh creative wings in urban UK music scenes. This culminated in a hit like Burna’s 2017 song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xho39TPlL4Q">Rock your Body</a>. </p>
<p>Even before the arrival of Love, Damini, Burna Boy had succeeded in melding his diverse cultural and sonic experiences into one powerful aural stew.</p>
<p>Burna has not only cribbed the Jamaican sound. He’s also adopted the rude boy persona with tales of <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/burna-boy-faces-police-probe-for-the-second-time-in-six-years/">private security gunshots</a>, <a href="https://dailytrust.com/burna-boy-shatta-wale-and-rape-culture">rape allegations</a> and a trail of broken hearts that have clouded his already threatening aura.</p>
<h2>Ways to weigh Burna</h2>
<p>Obviously, Burna was aiming to act as some kind of generational spokesperson for a restless and burgeoning <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/17/world/africa/who-are-afropolitans/index.html">Afropolitan</a> brigade. It couldn’t have been otherwise after being fed on a diet of Kuti-inspired Pan Africanism and neocolonial resistance. By most standards, this is heavy stuff for a market and generation captured by instant gratification.</p>
<p>And then he struck musical gold with his eclectic brew of West African rhythms, West Indian jungle grooves and the ubiquity of hip hop. Burna once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa6DweKPf1A">described</a> part of this gumbo as “pepperoni pizza” with Kuti’s Afrobeat as the dough. There is nothing particularly unique about this recipe. Instead, the X factor can be found in his own winning combination of ingredients – bound with an arresting personality. Of course, there’s also his amazing dexterity in sampling to ponder.</p>
<p>He has <a href="https://theconversation.com/setting-the-record-straight-burna-boy-didnt-create-a-music-genre-called-afrofusion-187189">proclaimed</a> that his brand of music is a new genre called Afrofusion. Probably this is just a way of leveraging newfound success for greater effect. A way to distinguish himself from the teeming throng of Afrobeats aspirers. </p>
<p>To the undiscerning, Burna Boy’s sound is pure genius. But for those conversant with Kuti, with Jamaican godfather of dub, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/reggaes-mad-scientist-65011/">Lee “Scratch” Perry</a>, and similar genres of <a href="https://jamaicansmusic.com/learn/origins/toasting">Caribbean toasting</a> (lyrical chanting over dancehall music), it all seems a bit déjà vu. </p>
<p>There are different ways to weigh Burna. If we put him against Kuti, Perry and the greats of dub, he is arguably minor. But in an incessantly Instagrammed era, endlessly photographed and reproduced, he is a giant bristling with substance, creative menace and yet to be decoded signification. </p>
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<p>Burna was birthed from robust foundations of Afrobeat, hip hop, ragga, grime, drum ‘n’ bass and dub-related sounds. There are hardly any other foundations as deep as these. His work, up till now, has mainly consisted of translating and reconfiguring those jungle-laden sounds for a mass audience. </p>
<p>In this regard, he is a faithful conduit, a vehicle for simmering, unadulterated and quasi-spiritual grooves. Sometimes, it isn’t even certain that Burna recognises the depth of what he is channelling. If he did, he wouldn’t be so eager to pair up with every hot music star that pops up on the scene.</p>
<p>Burna’s lyrics in hits such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=421w1j87fEM">Last Last</a> (2022) are replete with profanity, inanity and nonsense rhymes that sound good to the ears especially if you happen not to understand West African <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38000387">pidgin</a>. This is yet another aspect of his work that can be quite bewildering; the sudden swings between sense and nonsense, pseudo-philosophical gravity and outright puerility.</p>
<h2>Rolling in dollars</h2>
<p>Lately, Burna has launched a campaign to gain even greater success. Just look at his high profile collaborations with the likes of US musicians <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aiCPsNcRMU">Pop Smoke</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxb5GItBjJI">Beyoncé</a> as well as UK pop stars like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byO74UGa8bI">Sam Smith</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDZ25anwgjc">Ed Sheeran</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXeOBkKdiAg">Stormzy</a> or Nigerian singer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNTkoLf5x5U">Wizkid</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/100-years-of-pop-music-in-nigeria-what-shaped-four-eras-181298">100 years of pop music in Nigeria: what shaped four eras</a>
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<p>Already, some of his hits are beginning to sound a little laboured, over-thought or under-thought. But perhaps this hardly matters as long as the dollars, brand endorsements and festival invitations keep rolling in. In today’s music industry, that’s all that counts. </p>
<p>Burna Boy has won the world and retained his brooding sense of menace, but it remains to be seen how much of his true creative soul he has left. </p>
<p><em>This article was updated to more accurately reflect the biography of Bose Ogulu.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanya Osha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With his new album Love, Damini he has conquered the world. But how much of his creative soul does he have left?Sanya Osha, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1828882022-05-12T14:07:37Z2022-05-12T14:07:37ZRudy Gomis, a masterful collaborator who kept the diversity of Senegalese music alive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462545/original/file-20220511-12-w1woq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">World Circuit Records</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world has lost one of the great pioneers of the post-independence movement of modern popular music in Senegal. After a long illness, Rudolphe “Rudy” Clément Gomis – co-founder of the famous <a href="https://orchestrabaobab.com">Orchestra Baobab</a>, bandleader, composer, singer and percussionist – <a href="https://world-today-news.com/orchestra-baobab-rudy-gomis-bowed-out/">passed</a> <a href="https://pan-african-music.com/rudy-gomis-voix-du-baobab/">away</a> on 27 April 2022 aged 75 in his native city, Ziguinchor, the capital of the Casamance region in southern Senegal. </p>
<p>He had not been able to perform with the dance <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/africa/senegal/articles/orchestra-baobab-senegals-biggest-band-50-years-on/">band</a> for some time, but his hypnotic ballads such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7dlwwEXvQM">Coumba</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yFmRNcX3I">Utrus Horas</a> – with their powerful lyrics, luxurious melodies and deep groove – remain among Baobab’s most iconic songs, still entrancing after nearly half a century.</p>
<p>As a singer and songwriter, Gomis had a genius for “fusing humour with melancholy,” as veteran singer Amadou Sarr said to me in a note from his old friend’s funeral. This was not just in Gomis’ philosophical and metaphorical lyrics, but also in his talent for soulful melodies. On songs like Coumba, his slightly rough, expressive voice moves beautifully between pathos and optimism.</p>
<p>Gomis was a key player in creating the distinctive style of Orchestra Baobab, a band made up of outstanding musicians from different parts of Senegal as well as from Mali and Togo. Much of their success was due to his leadership qualities and collaborative spirit. Fifty years on, Orchestra Baobab continues to keep alive the diversity of music in Senegal and travel the world with it, thanks in no small part to Gomis.</p>
<h2>The early years of Orchestra Baobab</h2>
<p>Gomis was the last surviving of the band’s founders. He formed Orchestra Baobab in 1970 in Dakar together with two other exceptional musicians, the singer <a href="https://medium.com/@worldcircuitrecords/balla-sidib%C3%A9-1942-2020-9244bc2076f5">Balla Sidibé</a> also from Casamance, and <a href="https://afropop.org/articles/baobab-guitarist-barthelemy-attisso-has-passed-away">Berthèlemy Atisso</a>, the guitarist from Togo. They had already been working together in a small band called Standard, incubating a collaborative, cosmopolitan and varied style. </p>
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<p>During the 1970s in Senegal many of the local bands did mainly cover versions of Cuban hits from the 1950s, singing in pseudo-Spanish. But with Baobab, the references to Cuban music were subtly reworked within other musical idioms into new composition, and this delicious mixture was part of their charm.</p>
<p>Of all the bands that animated Dakar nightlife in the 1970s, they were the most professional both live and in the studio, always perfectly in tune with masterful, sophisticated arrangements and deep groove. </p>
<p>Senegal gained independence in 1960. Playing at the chic Baobab nightclub in central Dakar for the political establishment, the band enjoyed great success throughout the 1970s, releasing iconic albums like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjLuoI6WV9M">On Verra Ça</a> (We’ll See). “Yes, we were very popular, but this didn’t translate into making a good living,” <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008cvc3">commented Gomis</a>) in an extensive interview with me back in 2001, housed in the British Library Sound Archive.</p>
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<p>At this time we had a Catholic president, (Léopold Sédar) <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leopold-Senghor">Senghor</a>, who said you can play French and Cuban styles … But then, after the early 1980s, people in Senegal lost interest in the Baobab sound. Instead they just wanted to hear Wolof music.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wolof">Wolof</a> are the majority ethnic group and language in Dakar and in the north of Senegal. In 1980, the new president <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abdou-Diouf">Abdou Diouf</a>, a Muslim of Wolof ethnicity, ushered in a different social and cultural dynamic. </p>
<p>Despite having many superb songs in Wolof in their repertoire, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdG6EGYfCzw">Mohamadou Bamba</a> sung by Wolof singer Thione Seck, Baobab were uncomfortable going full force into the Wolof-derived <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/mbalax-senegal">mbalax</a>, the musical style later popularised by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Youssou-NDour">Youssou N'Dour</a>. </p>
<p>The band eventually broke up in 1985. But they would be reunited in 2001 – and went international.</p>
<h2>A rich background</h2>
<p>Gomis’ background is a crucial factor in the unique style and appeal of Orchestra Baobab. He championed a multi-ethnic sound, a natural response to the environment in which he was raised. Senegal is divided into two regions by the Gambia river. To the south, the lush Casamance, where Gomis was from, encompasses a multitude of languages, religions and musical traditions not found elsewhere in the country and under-represented on a national level. </p>
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<p>Gomis explained that his Guinea Bissau heritage is evident from his surname. His grandfather, of Manjak ethnicity, was born in Guinea Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea). The Manjak were largely Christianised and given Portuguese surnames, such as Gomes which became creolised into Gomis. Their musical traditions are part of a much wider culture shared across the Black Atlantic, and their main language is Kriolu, a mix of local languages with elements of Portuguese. This was the language that Gomis spoke at home, and many of his songs are in Kriolu, like Utrus Horas and Cabral.</p>
<p>His first taste of playing music was asiko:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At Christmas, new year and at marriages, my family would play the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBx-86KhwU4">asiko drums</a>; the whole neighbourhood would do the singing around us. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Also known as gumbe, asiko is a type of festive drumming that was brought to the coast of West Africa from Jamaica in the 1800s by resettled Maroons. Rudy did not know about the origins of asiko, but it was a bridge onto other Caribbean styles like reggae and <a href="https://worldmusic.net/blogs/guide-to-world-music/cuba-son-and-afro-cuban-music">Cuban son</a>, and across diverse African musics. Asiko, he later said, “connects me with the whole coast of Africa, all the way down to Angola”.</p>
<p>Rudy Gomis’ father was a strict ship captain. Rudy worked hard at school but his passion was music:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would go to nightclubs in Ziguinchor to see different bands and I thought, I could do better than that singer, why am I paying money to hear him? So I asked my father, if I get high marks, will you give me what I ask for? What I wanted was a guitar. He agreed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He practised every day, listening to diverse recordings. His favourites were the music of Cuban orchestra <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/288339-Orquesta-Aragon">Orquesta Aragón</a>, traditional styles from Casamance and Guinea Bissau, and the voice of Gambian griot singer <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/569597-Laba-Sosseh">Laba Sosseh</a>, popular at the time. Traces of all these sounds and influences can be found in Baobab’s music. Part of what makes their music so special is that there is something in it for everyone.</p>
<p>In Senegal at the time people who were not born into hereditary lineages of artisans – the so-called “<a href="https://theculturetrip.com/africa/mali/articles/what-is-a-griot-and-why-are-they-important/">griots</a>” – were not supposed to play music. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My father said, ‘No, you’re not a griot … You give up guitar and carry on with your studies, or you leave.’ I chose to leave. But even before I could do so, my father threw my suitcase out of the house.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The return of Baobab</h2>
<p>After Orchestra Baobab broke up, Gomis, a trained language teacher, founded his own language school (named Baobab Centre) in Dakar, where he taught the many languages spoken in southern Senegal and Guinea Bissau. The band members stayed in touch, and occasionally played together. </p>
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<p>Legendary producer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/arts/music/23sisa.html">Nick Gold</a>, Youssou N'Dour and others urged Orchestra Baobab to get back together. Gold had re-released their 1982 album <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/oct/05/pirates-choice-orchestra-baobab">Pirates’ Choice</a> through <a href="https://worldcircuit.co.uk">World Circuit Records</a> and it reached international audiences, where their recordings began to attract a cult following. Orchestra Baobab got back together in 2001, launching their new international career. </p>
<p>Under leadership from Gomis they revived their old collaborative spirit, this time recording under better conditions and with some superb guests. A series of successful new albums were released, bringing new and old songs to audiences around the world.</p>
<p>In 2020 Gomis could celebrate <a href="https://orchestrabaobab.com">50 years</a> since Baobab was founded. Back in 2001, in the flush of excitement over their reunion, he told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have unpublished songs in my pocket. I’m a composer. It’s my job in this band … We want to make great music for all time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Orchestra Baobab will carry out these wishes, no doubt.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Durán does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gomis was the last surviving founder of Orchestra Baobab, Senegal’s most famous band.Lucy Durán, Professor of music, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1818572022-04-27T05:52:13Z2022-04-27T05:52:13ZThe legacy of Nigerian music star Orlando Julius must not be overlooked<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459468/original/file-20220425-11-gx6bur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C4181%2C2672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Orlando Julius (left) on stage with his wife, the dancer and singer Latoya Aduke.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If there is one musician as commonly associated as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-provocateur-fela-kuti-who-used-sex-and-politics-to-confront-58599">Fela Anikulapo-Kuti</a> with the West African musical movements <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/afrobeat-music-guide#quiz-0">Afrobeat</a> and <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeat-history">Afrobeats</a> (never mind Afro-Blues and Afro-Soul), this is the preserve of <a href="https://theconversation.com/orlando-julius-nigerias-afrobeat-pioneer-lived-for-his-art-181801">Orlando Julius Ekemode</a>. Given Fela’s immense stature it would seem impossible to speak of another musician from whom he gained musical direction. Yet, one must, in the case of his fellow multi-instrumentalist Orlando Julius. </p>
<p>Together they are a large part of the force behind highlife (the West African music originating in Ghana in the 1800s that fuses traditional sounds with jazz) and Afrobeat (a sound that further varied things, starting in the early 1970s, with a blend of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock and traditional West African chant and rhythms). Fela and Julius pioneered Afrobeat after practising highlife. </p>
<p>It is true that Fela drew inspiration from a variety of musical heavyweights across the globe. But in terms of tangible impact, fellow Nigerian Julius is the name to beat. Of Fela, Julius once <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/3638531209dee8a231389110c349f3ac/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1996336">offered</a>: “Fela came to my club every week and when he formed his own band in 1964, I gave him four members of my group to get him started.” </p>
<p>The peaceful passing of Julius on Friday 15 April 2022 is therefore to be properly contextualised.</p>
<p>Julius evokes that adage which seeks to compel contemporary humans to be more mindful and celebratory of fellow humans, particularly those of rare distinction, in the course of their lives. News reports aside, there has been a shortage of tributes on Julius since he passed on. Yet there is a near-epidemic shortage of Julius in the academic literature of Nigerian and African popular music, of Afrobeat and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/highlife-African-music">highlife</a>. This is all the more surprising considering who Julius was, what he stood for, how he appropriated his talents – and to what causes. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-nigeria-to-the-world-afrobeats-is-having-a-global-moment-179910">From Nigeria to the world: Afrobeats is having a global moment</a>
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<p>He entertained diverse ideologies from the outset of his career, long before the age of compulsive diversity. His transnational ethos was further entrenched by his co-bandleader and wife, Latoya Aduke, who has African American roots. He committed his life to exemplifying broad-mindedness and he demonstrated this in his very meaningful music.</p>
<h2>The erasure of Julius</h2>
<p>Much forgotten in the discourse and performance of postcolonial Nigerian popular music, Julius is often blurred, conflicted, and sometimes subsumed with his namesake and older highlife crooner <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/orlando-owoh-mn0000406877/biography">Orlando Owoh</a>. Perhaps because literature on highlife music has sparingly touched on Julius’ work, his place in Nigerian music history remains somewhat fluid, maybe even fickle. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ejotmas/article/view/141200">survey</a> of Nigerian highlife between 1960 and 2005 managed to commit ink to artists <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-benson-mn0002293410">Bobby Benson</a>, <a href="https://guardian.ng/art/revue/cardinal-jim-rex-lawson-49-years-of-enduring-legacy/">Rex Jim Lawson</a>, <a href="https://businessday.ng/arts-bdlife-arts/article/roy-chicago-frontline-highlife-kingpin-60s/">Roy Chicago</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/victor-olaiya-stadium-hotel-highlife-and-nostalgia-136072">Victor Olaiya</a>, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-okosun-mn0000039654/biography">Sonny Okosun</a>, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chief-stephen-osita-osadebe-mn0000111385/biography">Osita Osadebe</a>, <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/all-you-need-to-know-about-late-singer-victor-uwaifo/">Victor Uwaifo</a> and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/prince-nico-mbarga-mn0000362321/biography">Prince Nico Mbarga</a> – all highlife heavyweights. Yet, Julius is conspicuously omitted. Another <a href="https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/6812/">study</a> on political music cultures in postcolonial Nigeria went to the lengths of drawing from veterans of Julius’ era, including Victor Essiet of the Mandators. It deeply interrogated contributions from Sonny Okosun, Ras Kimono and Majek Fashek, but curiously left out Julius. </p>
<p>The ultimate tribute to Nigerian music greats, singer Faze’s anthem <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hka3yPvgQTo">Originality</a> equally committed the unthinkable by omitting Julius, but not Owoh! It is perhaps in Julius’ nature to be left out of classifications of highlife and politics. Of his musical originality, Julius <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/3638531209dee8a231389110c349f3ac/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1996336">offers</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I started out playing highlife, and was the first to modernise it with rock, jazz and R'n'B. It was Afrobeat but my record company named it Afro-soul. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The ethos in the music</h2>
<p>With the different bands that Julius played, he always produced palatable and resonant music. His <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ambidexterity">ambidexterousness</a> underscored how much of a musician’s musician he was. Lyrical verbosity was not a vice of his era. Julius did his talking on the saxophone, the keyboard and on the drums. He composed music for liberation. He provided leadership to each of his bands. Whereas he is better known for hit songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6D8uJqnexQ">Jaguar Nana</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBbLE0yak-s">Ololufe</a>, it may be rewarding to briefly engage with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdHjFxb5TqA">I’m Back To My Roots</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiQUyP4A484">Be Counted</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6jVi9zT93A">Selma to Soweto</a>. </p>
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<p>I’m Back To My Roots is a wavy cruise of eclectic instrumental mixes wherein Julius reveals his affinity for his Nigerian origins and their significance to his essence. It is fitting that he passed on peacefully at his home in Ilesha, Osun State, Nigeria. Meanwhile, in Be Counted, Julius advises his audience to live worthily through the pursuits of peace, love, justice and liberty. </p>
<p>He offers a few examples of characters in whose footsteps his audience may emulate – Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Obafemi Awolowo, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. – demonstrating a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pan-Africanism">Pan-Africanist</a> outlook. He urged freedom lovers to rise and be counted in the advocacy for equal rights for women. Here, he names Mahatma Ghandhi, Malala Yousafzai, Joe Odumakin and Michelle Obama, demonstrating a diverse sense of equity. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/orlando-julius-nigerias-afrobeat-pioneer-lived-for-his-art-181801">Orlando Julius, Nigeria's Afrobeat pioneer, lived for his art</a>
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<p>Julius exemplified global awareness and spoke with measure in Selma to Soweto where he urged everyone irrespective of nationality to join hands and march together in order that the world moves beyond apartheid and racism. He sings: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Let’s march from Selma to Soweto because I have a dream.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Politically, his music and his message would seek originality as a way of doing things progressively in the future. It would advocate a truce between rivals and a government where everyone’s strengths are played up, irrespective of gender or place of origin. Orlando Julius Ekemode was a musical pioneer with a cocktail of rich and endearing messages. If we continue to neglect his contributions, we will all be poorer for it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The man who taught Fela Kuti a thing or two has been all but erased from formal music history. He deserves much better treatment in death.Garhe Osiebe, Research Fellow, Rhodes UniversityAustin Emielu, Visiting professor, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1818012022-04-22T14:32:54Z2022-04-22T14:32:54ZOrlando Julius, Nigeria’s Afrobeat pioneer, lived for his art<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459307/original/file-20220422-11-c6fils.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Musician Orlando Julius with his wife, dancer Latoya Aduke Ekemode.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/orlando-julius-mn0000475975/biography">Orlando Julius</a> (Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode), who <a href="https://punchng.com/just-in-veteran-highlife-musician-orlando-julius-dies-at-79/">passed</a> on 15 April 2022, lived the sort of life many had hoped fellow Afrobeat star <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-provocateur-fela-kuti-who-used-sex-and-politics-to-confront-58599">Fela Kuti</a> would. Julius was well-mannered, well-spoken and cultivated a reputation mostly devoid of raucousness and pyrotechnics. </p>
<p>Born in 1943 at Ikole-Ekiti, south west Nigeria, his first major musical experience as a boy was serving as a drummer while his mother danced. Julius became a saxophonist, band leader and global star. His extensive background and travels offer an encyclopedic sweep of 20th century West African and African American music. </p>
<p>He worked with top notch highlife acts such as Julius Araba, Cotey Necoy, J.O. Oyeshiku and maestro I.K. Dairo in Ibadan – the south-western Nigerian city famed for its cultural heritage. <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/highlife-music-guide#quiz-0">Highlife</a> is a West African music genre that borrows from traditional music but is influenced by rock ‘n’ roll and jazz. And then he further deepened his knowledge of highlife in Lagos in the 1960s. It was amid an eclectic potpourri of musical styles (including Cuban phrasings and beats), personalities and happenings.</p>
<p>By the early 1970s, he was already a notable contender for the Afrobeat mantle alongside the redoubtable Kuti and the supercool, perennially dark-shaded drummer, <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/remi-kabaka/m0fpjqx7?hl=en">Remi Kabaka</a>. <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/afrobeat-music-guide#what-is-afrobeat">Afrobeat</a> is a movement in West African music characterised by harmonic and melodic grooves, call and response choruses and intricately layered syncopation (disrupted rhythms). While the politically outspoken, free living Kuti was barred from television appearances, Julius frequently graced Nigerian TV screens and quickly became a darling.</p>
<h2>America</h2>
<p>And then when his star seemed set to rise even higher, he relocated to the United States where he hooked up with South African jazz star <a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-hugh-masekela-the-horn-player-with-a-shrewd-ear-for-music-of-the-day-86414">Hugh Masekela</a> to form a band, <a href="https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Ashiko">Ashiko</a>. </p>
<p>The combo went on to acquire good standing, opening for famed US musicians like Herbie Hancock, The Pointer Sisters and Grover Washington Jr. In fact Julius would teach one of Michael Jackson’s older brothers to play African drums, having struck up a warm relationship with their parents.</p>
<p>In the US as with many Africa-centred artists – such as the talented Nigerian musicians the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/12/lijadu-sisters-kehinde-taiwo-lijadu-nigeria-pop-music">Lijadu Twins</a> – Julius tried to remain true to his cultural roots. This path of cultural authenticity might have been inspiring but couldn’t always have made great business sense in view of having to compete with funk, disco and soul music.</p>
<h2>A meeting in Nigeria</h2>
<p>Julius returned to Nigeria for a spell in 1984 along with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Latoyaaduke/">Latoya Aduke</a>, his African-American wife. I first ran into them in the late 1990s in Lagos at publisher Kunle Tejuoso’s The Jazzhole, a record-cum-bookstore on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. At once I was invited to visit them at their studio in a Lagos suburb. They proved to be two of the most charming interviewees I have ever encountered. In spite of having an impending show, they had all the time for me. </p>
<p>Latoya, an unstinting nucleus of unalloyed energy, was rehearsing with a dance troupe for the show. Julius was busy with the music at a state-of-the-art production desk. Latoya, a dancer, was spry, taut and muscled whilst Julius was only slightly rotund, given to easy, infectious smiles, as chilled out as your favourite uncle.</p>
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<p>When it was time to talk, they were more concerned with their future plans. I, on the other hand, was more intrigued by their remarkable past. They had played at every venue and city that mattered and had jammed with or opened for the crème de la crème of the music world, including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miles-Davis">Miles Davis</a>. What was Davis like? The ever amiable Julius merely shook his head incredulously. Davis – the king of America’s East Coast <a href="https://www.jazzinamerica.org/lessonplan/8/6/210">cool jazz</a> – wasn’t someone to be toyed with.</p>
<p>A faint impression I got from them was that the music industry wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Without their actually saying so, one sensed it was full of disappointments, betrayals and heartache. Nonetheless, there was no other choice but to forge ahead.</p>
<p>But the most powerful memory of that interview was their passion for music and performance. They rehearsed as if they had everything to prove, as if their lives depended on it, even though they had already done countless shows and undertaken innumerable tours and recordings. The dedication, humility and commitment with which they handled their business would always be rare and exceptional.</p>
<p>It became apparent chatting to them that, at the end of the day, it isn’t the personality of the artist that matters but the art itself.</p>
<h2>Kuti and Julius</h2>
<p>Julius’s Afrobeat didn’t blow off rooftops like highlife, juju, fuji or even Kuti’s version of the genre for a number of reasons. He went abroad at a critical stage, when he needed to be at home nurturing his audiences. In addition, Afrobeat was initially considered rebel music, cliquish and lacking in the apparently feelgood vibes of Nigerian genres like <a href="https://afropop.org/articles/fuji-juju-chronicles">juju or fuji</a>. </p>
<p>And, when it was still evolving, Afrobeat seemed too cosmopolitan and experimental, and culturally shifty. This ensured that only a very small circle of musicians were equipped to play it. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerian-icon-fela-is-long-overdue-for-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-156870">Nigerian icon Fela is long overdue for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame</a>
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<p>As for audiences, it took enormous amounts of work to build anything resembling a critical mass. Eventually, most of the heavy lifting was left to Kuti when Julius departed Nigerian shores. At this stage, Afrobeat was split between these two distinct polarites; Kuti and Julius, and with very little in between to fuel their primal grooves.</p>
<p>Personality-wise, they couldn’t have been more different. Kuti remained in Nigeria to irritate the political and economic elites at every turn. Julius, on the other hand, became a global troubadour exhibiting almost unfathomable depths of African music wherever he could and with whomever cared to listen.</p>
<p>When the ever avuncular Julius finally returned to Nigeria, he had a head filled with experiences and a heart brimming with memories which he was always gracious to share with younger generations of artists. </p>
<p>It didn’t appear he was motivated by fame and fortune. He was essentially an artist and that was what he took to his grave.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181801/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanya Osha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>He played every venue that mattered, a global face of Afrobeat. Orlando Julius embodied the groove.Sanya Osha, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1797752022-03-31T13:29:42Z2022-03-31T13:29:42ZWho is Nigerian music star Wizkid – and why is he taking over the world?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454346/original/file-20220325-17-1cg2rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global appreciation of West Africa’s Afrobeats music has grown significantly in the last decade. Afrobeats stars are touring the world, racking up record sales, winning awards and collaborating with big-name international artists. </p>
<p>In fact, seven of the <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/playlist-africas-2022-grammy-awards-nominees">nine</a> African artists <a href="https://www.grammy.com/news/2022-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list">nominated</a> for a 2022 Grammy Award – one of the world’s most sought after music awards – are West African. Most of these make music driven by Afrobeats sounds.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeat-history">Afrobeats</a> is a broad, generic term for African contemporary popular music with rhythmic and harmonic influences of West Africa’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/highlife-African-music">highlife</a> and <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/afrobeat-music-guide#what-is-afrobeat">Afrobeat</a> traditions and Euro-American funk and hip-hop.</p>
<p>For the 2022 edition of the <a href="https://www.grammy.com">Grammy Awards</a>, Nigeria’s <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/wizkid/20080">Wizkid</a> is nominated twice – for best global music album and best global performance. Wizkid <a href="https://www.grammy.com/videos/beyonce-blue-ivy-wizkid-win-best-music-video-brown-skin-girl-2021-grammy-awards-show">won</a> his first Grammy Award in 2021 for the video of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRFS0MYTC1I">Brown Skin Girl</a>, a track he made with US superstar Beyoncé.</p>
<p>The 31-year-old stands out as a leading Afrobeats artist from Nigeria whose music has already made a huge sway on the charts of many countries. Wizkid boasts over 32 hits, more than 70 music awards, 50 singles and four albums, as well as sold out concert performances across Africa, Europe and America. As a result, he commands a fan base of more than 30 million combined followers on <a href="https://twitter.com/wizkidayo?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wizkidmusic">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wizkidayo/?hl=en">Instagram</a>.</p>
<p>His songs straddle the rhythmic texture of Nigerian pop that connects with West African diaspora communities across the globe. And when it comes to his career, he set his eyes firmly on America and strategically propelled himself to global fame.</p>
<h2>Career</h2>
<p>Wizkid was born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun on 16 July 1990 in Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria. He started singing and recording music at the age of 11 in a group called the Glorious Five. He joined Empire Mates Entertainment record label in 2009. </p>
<p>The songwriter, singer and performer worked hard in the early days of his music career in Nigeria’s highly competitive industry. In one of his hit songs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QiLceJSLQ">Ojuelegba</a>, he narrates his experience at Mo’Dogg studio in Lagos, where he toiled for a better life. He became famous in Nigeria in 2011 after the release of his debut album titled <a href="https://guardian.ng/life/music/celebrating-wizkids-superstar-album-seven-years-later-top-seven-songs/">Superstar</a>. The album opened up many more live performance opportunities.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Joro references Fela Kuti.</span></figcaption>
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<p>As a young star who foresaw his music traveling beyond Nigeria, Wizkid seized every opportunity to make connections across the music world. For instance, when US R&B star <a href="https://www.chrisbrownworld.com">Chris Brown</a> (also famous for allegations of sexual violence against women) performed in Lagos in 2012, Wizkid was with him on stage and subsequently collaborated with Brown on the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v17Ob7pCP8">African Bad Gyal</a>.</p>
<p>Unlike some other Nigerian popular musicians, Wizkid understood the power of transnational collaboration and worked hard to align his music within the structure and texture of American hip-hop and R&B. In a 2019 <a href="https://davidsmyth.co.uk/2019/10/wizkid-interview-evening-standard-11-oct-2019/">interview</a>, he is quoted as saying he did not make music just to be an African superstar. </p>
<p>In 2016, transnational appreciation of his music grew after his collaboration with <a href="https://drakerelated.com/#front">Drake</a>, the Canadian singer and rapper. It is a <a href="https://pan-african-music.com/en/one-dance-wizkid/">popular opinion</a> among Nigerian music analysts and journalists that Wizkid’s collaboration with Drake marked the genesis of his global appeal.</p>
<p>He has since collaborated with top-notch American stars such as Beyoncé, Akon, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj. </p>
<h2>Sexism</h2>
<p>Wizkid’s music career has not been without controversy. Like many of his contemporaries in the industry, he rose to fame amid worries over objectifying images of women in some of his lyrics and music videos. I have argued <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07494467.2020.1753479">elsewhere</a> that sexual objectification of women has been a useful strategy for publicity, and serves as a means of enhancing his social status and commercial viability in the Nigerian popular music industry. </p>
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<p>Wizkid is particularly accused of emphasising and objectifying female bodies in the songs <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YsSCQpJm7M">In My Bed</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQU99okRgvk">Expensive Shit</a>.
The <a href="https://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/04/17/olamide-wizkid-lil-kesh-banned-by-nbc/">public outcry</a> against sexist messages in his music culminated in the <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/nigerian-body-bans-songs-wizkid-nicki-minaj-and-others">banning</a> of In My Bed in 2015, by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. Despite this, his local and international appeal continued to grow.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">With fellow Nigerian star Tems.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Pop’s promised land</h2>
<p>Wizkid has won more prestigious local and international music awards than any of his Afrobeats peers. He has more than 100 nominations in different categories of music awards. Some of his big wins include Artist of the Year at the 2021 Apple Music Awards, two BET Awards for Best International Act, three Soul Train Music Awards, an MTV Europe awards for Best African Act, three Billboard Music Awards – and that 2021 Grammy. </p>
<p>For Africa, especially Nigeria, America is the popular culture promised land. To make it in America is to conquer the pop world. And a US Grammy is the most cherished music award. Following the global spread of West African migrants that consume and promote Afrobeats, the music will continue to gain more listeners across the world as more people yearn for new sounds from Africa. Likewise, the demography of its global consumers on Youtube and Spotify grows as top record labels – such as Sony and Universal Music – sign up and promote more Afrobeats artists.</p>
<p>Propelled by the growing spread of Afrobeats, Wizkid has achieved global fame through a strategic set of music goals throughout his career – and has boosted his image by courting controversy and big name collaborators, infusing Western pop with African flavour in the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179775/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samson Uchenna Eze does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>His rhythmic sounds connected with the diaspora and his collaborations with stars like Drake and Beyoncé elevated his name.Samson Uchenna Eze, Lecturer, University of NigeriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1798992022-03-31T13:29:41Z2022-03-31T13:29:41Z2022 Grammys: what Fela Kuti has to do with West Africa’s growing pop fame<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454474/original/file-20220326-25-4fsq2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Made Kuti performs in Lagos in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Andrew Esiebo/Getty Images for Global Citizen</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are a record number of <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/playlist-africas-2022-grammy-awards-nominees">African nominees</a> for the 2022 Grammy Awards and they are almost all from West Africa – Angelique Kidjo (Benin), Rocky Duwani (Ghana), Femi Kuti, Made Kuti, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tems (Nigeria).</p>
<p>Most of these artists are also proponents of <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/afrobeat-music-guide#what-is-afrobeat">Afrobeat</a> (Femi and Made Kuti, following the musical and political form defined by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-provocateur-fela-kuti-who-used-sex-and-politics-to-confront-58599">Fela Kuti</a>) or new breed <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeat-history">Afrobeats</a> (Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tems). Kidjo, too, has admitted to being <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/angelique-kidjo-on-mixing-her-influences-1.700044">influenced</a> by Fela. </p>
<p>As with Afrobeat, Afrobeats is music characterised by harmonic and melodic grooves, <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-call-and-response-in-music">call and response</a> choruses and intricately layered syncopation (disrupted rhythms). But Afrobeats is more commercial, radio-friendly and often politically vacuous – easily digestible by mass audiences.</p>
<p>There have been extensive conversations on the <a href="https://bantunauts.com/what-is-the-difference-between-afrobeat-and-afrobeats/">differences and similarities</a> of Afrobeat and Afrobeats. But within this selection of Grammy nominees what is immediately obvious are the lines where the two genres come together. </p>
<p>It is interesting to observe the dissemination of <a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerian-icon-fela-is-long-overdue-for-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-156870">Fela’s legacy</a> in the form of the varied work of his numerous <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-daughters-and-sons-of-fela-in-african-pop-138739">musical children</a> many of whom pay direct homage to him by copious sampling and outright imitation.</p>
<h2>The Kuti dynasty</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/31/fela-kuti-musical-neil-spencer">Fela’s</a> dominance of the music scene spanned the 1970s and 1980s. After he was incarcerated by the Nigerian military authorities in 1984, his son <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/Made-Kuti/38222">Femi</a> steadily began to come into his own musically. Femi is still decidedly more old school Afrobeat than new school Afrobeats. He served a long musical tutelage under Fela, and struggled to carve his own artistic niche but would always be seen primarily as an Afrobeat musician.</p>
<p>Femi, visually and politically speaking, is a much more safer bet than his father. He has avoided needless controversy and partnered with a wide variety of globally accomplished US musicians such as pianist Randy Weston, rapper Mos Def and singer Macy Gray amongst other noted collaborations. Femi has received six <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/femi-kuti/9248">Grammy nominations</a>. </p>
<p>Fela had never fitted the Grammy mould due to his uncommercially lengthy compositions, controversial nature and outright rebelliousness. But none doubted his musical genius. In many ways, he is irrevocably fastened to the classical Afrobeat template in terms of lyrical acuity, political awareness, aesthetic definition and spiritual curiosity. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Made Kuti expresses his freedom.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Initially, Femi may have been tempted to adopt the title of Afrobeat heir apparent and might have short-changed himself in the process. But it is never a wise proposition to try and imitate Fela. Instead what is possible and also judicious is to attempt to assimilate parts of his vast legacy rather than the whole of it. And this is precisely what the current Afrobeats stars are doing.</p>
<p><a href="https://pan-african-music.com/en/made-kuti-free-your-mind/">Made</a>, Femi’s son and Fela’s grandson, is more removed from his domineering grandfather’s influence and so he is able to explore his vast musical heritage at his own pace and with much less external pressure. Yet still Made is closely linked to his father, and music and not controversial politics, is what essentially motivates him. Up for his <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/Made-Kuti/38222">first Grammy</a>, he is more mellow and likeable than his fiery grandfather.</p>
<p>If Femi and Made represent the old guard of Afrobeat and a ever-growing legacy in Nigerian music then Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tems are the poster children of the now and the future.</p>
<h2>The new school</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/rise-of-the-african-giant-burna-boy-on-new-music-rolling-stone-cover-12982/">Burna Boy’s</a> connections to the Kuti dynasty also run deep. His maternal grandfather, <a href="https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/06/20/floods-of-tributes-for-benson-idonije-at-85/">Benson Idonije</a>, the revered broadcaster and jazz aficionado, was Fela’s manager in the 1960s. Fela himself had been a broadcaster until he decided to cast his lot full time in the music industry. There is a raunchy video of Burna’s mother, Bose, dancing on stage beneath a bare-chested Fela, part of Fela’s sprawling entourage. </p>
<p>Burna has sampled numerous Fela songs – such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-h7ltwACLs">Soke</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPe09eE6Xio">Ye</a> – and he is open about his indebtedness to the maestro. Burna’s sociopolitical vision, cadences and musical flow are lifted straight from Fela.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/wizkid-essence-african-artists-global-interview-2021-9648198/">Wizkid</a>, on the other hand, is slightly more circumspect in his sampling of Fela tunes. But arguably his biggest hit, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCUk7rIBBAE">Joro</a>, approaching 200 million views on YouTube, is derived from the “Joro jara joro” refrain in Fela’s famous incendiary song, Zombie. Wizkid also collaborated with Femi earlier in his career as if he were seeking an authentic Afrobeat imprimatur.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/directory/tems">Tems</a>, the youngest of the lot, is probably the least directly influenced by Fela’s Afrobeat. She is more indebted to US R&B and soul music. Her deep, sultry voice is combined with a style and vibe leaning towards the Afrocentric Afrobeat look. But there are many more artists in the wings, angling for the future Afrobeats spotlight – among them <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heisrema/?hl=en">Rema</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bujutoyourears/">Buju</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/joeboyofficial/?hl=en">Joeboy</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/omah_lay/">Omah Lay</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/fireboydml/?hl=en">Fireboy DML</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/iamolakira/?hl=en">Olakira</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ckay_yo/?hl=en">Ckay</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaywillzofficial/?hl=en">Jaywillz</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/asakemusic/?hl=en">Asake</a>. </p>
<h2>Celebrity culture</h2>
<p>Here is where Afrobeat differs from Afrobeats. Fela shunned crass materialism and he had an almost Robin Hood mentality in the dispensation of personal wealth. He avoided the consumerist flexing of today’s pop stars.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Burna Boy samples Fela Kuti on Ye.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Burna Boy has finally come into his own as a mature artist. His politically conscious, Grammy-winning last album, <a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/listen-to-burna-boy-new-album-twice-as-tall/">Twice as Tall</a>, rails against colonialism, global oppression and racism. But Burna’s lifestyle and personal values are saying something else. He is enthralled with large and flamboyant chains and necklaces, Lamborghinis and trophy girlfriends and other trappings of celebrity hip-hop culture while also attempting to burnish his mystique as a serious artist. He was difficult to find when the youthful <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-endsars-protests-are-different-and-what-lessons-they-hold-for-nigeria-148320">#EndSARS protesters</a> in Nigeria recently needed local celebrity voices to aid their cause. </p>
<p>Wizkid has no lofty pretensions. His main concerns, also evident in his most recent album, <a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/wizkid-made-in-lagos-billboard/">Made In Lagos</a>, are beautiful girls, matters of the heart, club dance floor domination and A-list celebrity status. </p>
<h2>Massive crossover</h2>
<p>Afrobeats is no longer confined to Nigeria, Ghana or West Africa alone. Artists from southern Africa, Rwanda, the UK and Europe have all been bitten by the bug.</p>
<p>The global acceptance of Afrobeats can be perceived at several levels. First of all, there are superstar Beyoncé’s collaborations with Wizkid, Burna, Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade on her <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/beyonce-releases-black-is-king-visual-album-1305320/">Black Is King</a> album. Justin Bieber was quite happy to hop on the re-mix of Wizkid’s global hit, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeMeopQqB6s">Essence</a>. There are also Burna’s collaborations with Sam Smith, Stormzy, Pop Smoke and Jorja Smith to think about. Or Fireboy DML’s chart-storming collaboration, Peru, with Ed Sheeran. </p>
<p>Indeed these massive crossovers are telling an unambiguous story: Afrobeats has acquired global legitimacy because it brings a unique swag and flavour to an otherwise jaded music scene. It’s a swag that has roots all the way back to Fela Kuti.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanya Osha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Of a record nine nominees, seven are from West Africa. The global rise of Afrobeats music owes its soul to Nigeria’s iconic star Fela Kuti.Sanya Osha, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.