Sonny Okosun is one of the most recognizable names in Nigerian popular culture and music over the past 20-30 years. He’s known for his fusion of western reggae & pop music stylings with Nigerian instrumentation and themes to create catchy tunes with wide appeal. Born in Benin City (Edo State, 1947), he sings in his native Edo language as well as Yoruba and English.

Some of his music is readily available from places like Amazon and many of the better record stores will have an album or two in the African music sections… and with some more digging in the right places, you can relatively easily pick up one of his old LPs for relatively cheap. (I bought the 1984 release Liberation [on Sanchie] for $5.50 last year at a SF record store)

Apart from the general appeal and catchiness of his tunes, I respect Okosun because he addresses political & social issues in his tunes… not on the direct, in-your-face, these-are-Nigerian-issues style of Fela Kuti, but more on a Pan-African “stop the wars, let’s progress” tempo with tracks like Revolution, Now or Never, Fire in Soweto, etc. Another prominent theme is religion, namely Christianity where he sings various praises to Oluwa. An example is in the 1983 release Sonny Okosun - Olorun Mose on the Togetherness 12″ [His Master's Voice/EMI Nigeria [Lagos] HMV(N)033].

As with most of Okosun’s music, the instrumentation on this track is almost entirely western, save for the talking drum in the very beginning. I love the melodies, baselines, guitar and the rhodes-esque electronic piano… a great track.

Sonny Okosun - Olorun Mose Iyanu

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Periodically there’s a need to freshen things up… well, the same thing applies for your computer. Let naijajams help you with an infusion of fresh desktop wallpaper flavor with this new design.

Check out the new wallpaper and grab a version for your desktop.

enjoy.

It’s 1999, 6 guys are crammed into the a corolla on a cold winter night… everything but the soccer match is on their minds at this point. Not much is being said as we try to not invade each other’s personal space… Then a chorus belts from the stereo:

Weda you like am
weda you no like am
Weda you like am
weda you no like am
The thing we say…
you go still de shake bodi
The thing we say…
you go still de shake bodi…

and very quickly the entire mood has changed, (almost) everybody is singing & the car’s bouncing… and the lone Colombian guy in the car is looking around bewildered wondering what all the commotion is about!

This was the first time I heard Trybesmen - Shake Bodi and one of the first times I’d heard the recent crop of new Nigerian Hip-Hop. A friend had recently returned from Nigeria with a slew of new jams, and this one was became an instant favorite.

I love the main message of this song… I could be critical of things like the beat, production, bragging, etc, but in the end, “I still go shake bodi” and that’s what’s important here.

Trybesmen - Shake Body

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Several weeks ago while walking around town in my former neighborhood, a flyer posted to a telephone pole caught my eye. It advertised King Sunny Ade, live in concert, two weeks from the date. It was almost hard to believe that the King of Juju music would be in town for a show… let alone see a flyer on the street for it - I was shocked! And if Sunny Ade live wasn’t show enough, Obi Osadebe, the son of the famed Osita Osadebe highlife maestro was set to open up the performance. Needless to say, I didn’t waste time and promptly bought a pair of tickets.

Stay tuned for a full show rundown complete with pictures, but in the meantime, enjoy King Sunny Ade - Kiti Kiti, a cool, grooving track on the 1998 album, “Odu” [Atlantic - Mesa/Bluemoon] that recalls classic Yoruba proverbs in Sunny Ade’s trademark Juju sound.

King Sunny Ade - Kiti Kiti

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What better way to start off a Naija music weblog than with the legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti? He was perhaps the single most influential musician/artist/activist in Nigeria (arguably the whole of Africa) in the past century (& possibly ever!)

As we know, he’s known for the creation of a unique flavor of Nigerian music that included elements of 60/70’s funk, jazz and local music that he dubbed Afrobeat.

So without further rambling, I present:
Fela and The Africa 70 - Palm Wine Sound - originally a 1977 release on the Fear Not for Man LP, published by the [Decca Afrodisia] record label. It’s a lesser known, fully instrumental track and one of my favorites.

It begins with an organ marking out the sweet melody accompanied by cool guitar rhythms… then the pounding rhythm section jumps in… the track continues to build as the horns come in on top… so sweet! The track continues for over 15 minutes & follows a jazzy, improvization flow with solos from the horns, saxes and organ.

The quality of the groove & the smooth, chillout vibe really makes it a favorite of mine - what a great way to start! Now if only I had some palm wine…

Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 - Palm Wine Sound

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Thanks for checking out naijajams.com - the naija music web log. For now, this site is an experiment of sorts, but we’re very much looking forward to the ride.

We have two simple objectives:

1) Expose Nigerian music, musicians and artists through a location independent medium (i.e. the web/internet)

2) Share music that moves us

Right now we’re ramping up on content & putting the finishing touches on the site, but check back soon for more information!