Da Grin is dead

It is with the heaviest of hearts, and deepest sorrow that we regret to announce that Rapper, Da Grin formally known as Olayitan Olanipekun Oladapo is dead at the tender age of 23. He was in a ghastly auto accident last week, and had been receiving treatment for injuries sustained at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH.Details are still sketchy but reports from various reliable sources confirmed that he has indeed passed on.

Rest In Peace, Da Grin.

The Figurine Beats Them All at AMAA!

THE 6th edition of African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) was held last week in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. And Kunle Afolayan's movie The Figurine emerged the top winner of the night, claiming all of five awards. However, Afolayan, who just returned from the New York African Film Festival attended the event, did not get the coveted Best Director Award. Ghana's Shirley Frimpong-Manso, director of The Perfect Picture clinched the award.Ramsey Nouah, who's away in the US, missed the event, but was able to give his acceptance speech (for winning Best Actor in a leading role) after Kunle Afolayan placed a call to his mobile phone and placed the phone on speaker.

Here's a FULL LIST of winners…

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: RAMSEY NOAH (FIGURINE)

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: JACKIE APIA (PERFECT PICTURE)

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: TAPIWA GWAZA (SEASONS OF A LIFE)

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: ADJATEY ANANG (PERFECT PICTURES)

AMAA BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: FIGURINE

AMAA BEST DIRECTOR SHIRLEY FRIMPONG-MANSO:THE PERFECT PICTURE

AMAA MOST PROMISING ACTOR: WILSON MAINA (TOGETHERNESS SUPREME) KENYA

AMAA MOST PROMISING ACTRESS: CHELSEA EZE (SILENT SCANDAL) AND RAHEMA NANFUKA ( IMANI)

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD ACTOR: TEDDY ONYAGO AND BILL OLOO

AMAA BEST ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK :A STING IN A TALE

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS :FIGURINE

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME :I SING OF A WELL

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE : UP THE CHILD

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION :FULANI

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING: THE CHILD

AMAA ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND :I SING OF A WELL

AMAA HEART OF AFRICA AWARD FOR BEST FILM FROM NIGERIA :FIGURINE BY KUNLE AFOLAYAN

AMAA BEST FILM IN AFRICAN LANGUAGE :IMANI – (UGANDA)

AMAA BEST FILM BY AN AFRICAN FILMMAKER IN DIASPORA: SOUL DIASPORA

AMAA BEST ANIMATION :HANAYNS SHOE (EGYPT) MINISTRY OF CULTURE EGYPT

AMAA BEST SHORT FILM: THE ABBYS BOYS – (SOUTH AFRICA) JAN-HENDRIK BEETGE

AMAA BEST DOCUMENTARY :BARIGA BOYS (NIGERIA) FEMI ODUGBEMI

AMAA BEST PICTURE :Figurine (Nigeria)

WWW.NIGERIAFILMS.COM

Promotion of Nigeria's musical culture... A must for the radio Deejay

COMPLAINTS are rampant from numerous musicians, most of whom are exponents of Nigerian music, that radio deejays are refusing to play their record releases. As a matter of fact, it is an open secret that financial payment is now the condition for airplay.

I want to believe that this is happening out of ignorance on the part of the deejays. If they understood the aim of broadcasting and the great responsibility that their role as deejays places on them, they would think twice and place the interest of their country before their own selfish and individual ones. They would embrace cultural relevance and the musical quality of recorded releases as pre-requisites for air play.

Broadcasting in all its ramifications exists as a tool for promoting a nation's cultural evolution. All programme production formats employed on radio - comprising the talk which is a single voice technique, interview, discussion, and composite programme types such as the magazine, drama, features and documentaries, audience participation programmes and music, are all intended to promote the arts, customs, beliefs and all the other products of human thought made by the people at any particular time -even in the process of informing, educating and entertaining.
Of all these formats, music constitutes the most easily identifiable cultural identity. It is the one that creates a more lasting impression because of its entertainment value - in terms of providing melody, harmony and rhythm. Music is in itself a loud expression of culture; and it occupies over 50 percent of a station's air time whether in a commercial or public service broadcasting situation. And the fact that music abounds in copious quantities in the forms of CDs, cassette tapes and vinyl makes it readily available for use in broadcasting.

Every country tries to take advantage of this facility from a patriotic point of view. Each country is proud of her music and musicians whom they promote as a matter of principle to boost their cultural image. The popular music of Britain is 'rock' and the British Broadcasting Corporation plays essentially that. The popular music of America is 'soul' and Voice of America never stops promoting it. The same goes for India, Japan and all the industrialised countries of the world. It is therefore unfortunate that Nigerian stations take delight in promoting American music, and by extension her culture.

The Nigerian music industry is virtually dead. The fault is not that of the musicians, but radio stations that over the years have failed to promote their own music and musicians. Our young musicians have been accused of playing imitative music, which often invariably lacks authenticity. But they do not seem to have any choice because they are playing what they have grown up to listen to on Radio - a medium, which is supposed to lead and guide opinion.

The musical culture of a nation depends solely on radio for development and promotion. Successful musicians all over the world owe their success to air play because no matter how great their recorded efforts are at any point in time, if they are not promoted, nobody gets to hear about them. All the great musicians in this country owe their success to radio without which the likes of E.T Mensah, Bobby Benson, I. K. Dairo, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and all the veterans would not have been known today. The Radio deejay therefore is not out to promote himself and the music of his choice. He is there in the national interest and should be proud of the musical culture of his motherland.

There are numerous musical idioms that require promotion for the benefit of the young generation who are growing up on the heavy doses of foreign popular music, which they hear all day long. Station managers should create programme slots for highlife, juju, fuji and all the Nigerian popular music forms. Regular slots should also be created for music of our land in terms of indigenous rhythms whose exponents are gradually disappearing for lack of promotion and patronage. Kalangu and Goje are still popular in the North, but in the South for instance idioms like Sakara and Apala are virtually extinct. Since the demise of Yusuf Olatunji, Haruna Isola and Ayinla Omowura, no newcomers have emerged to continue from where they stopped. Radio can bring back a vibrant music industry.

Music presentation is not just a business of promoting foreign music idioms and talking American slangs. It has to do with patriotism and effective communication. Some private stations have adopted the style of letting the music play while the presenter turns himself into a 'dumb witness.' All programmes have now been turned into ordinary compilations and their own idea of 'link continuity' is the mention of a few people in the "house" and the mention of one or two friends who are listening. Every programme must have its own aim, what it intends to achieve and how to achieve this objective. A music programme needs to have a definite character and personality and it should tell a logical story from beginning to the end. What he says and the way he says it depends on the brief of the music programme.

If it is a low profile presentation programme, the music is paramount and the presenter has little to say. His job is unobtrusive; to provide background listening and all that is required is the occasional station identification or time check.

In the specialist -oriented presentation, experts in their own fields of music can make excellent presenters as they spice their transmissions with anecdotes about the artistes and stories of happenings at recording sessions, as well as informed comment on performance comparisons and the music itself. Jazz, classical music, highlife, folk among others, lend themselves to this treatment. Often analytical in approach, the presenter's job is to bring alive the human interest inherent in all music. The listener should obviously enjoy the music played but half the value of the programme is derived from hearing authoritative, possibly provocative comment from some one who knows the field well-an expert. How many of this type do we hear on the air waves today?

The personality-oriented programme is the most common of the music presentation types. The presenter here must do more than just playing records with some spontaneous ad-libs in between-as is now common with the new private stations. However popular the music, this simple form of presentation soon palls. The deejay must communicate his own personality, creating a sense of friendship with his audience. He must entertain. To do this well programme after programme requires a lot of preparation.

It is important to decide what to say and how to say it. This means listening to the records before hand to decide the appropriate places to respond to the words of a song, a remark or other comment, where to place a listener's letter, quiz or even a phone call. The chat between the records should be thought about in advance so that it does not sound pedestrian, becoming simply a repetitive patter.

The programme may also contain identifications, time checks, traffic information, sound effects, chitchat and interviews among other sound elements. The presenter should therefore never be at a loss as to what to do next. He must know in advance what he wants to say and be constantly replenishing his stock of anecdotes where possible. These should be drawn from his own observation of the daily scene. Certainly, for local radio stations like ours, the more the presenter develops a rapport with his own area, the more his listeners will identify with him.

When a presenter is criticised for talking too much, often times it is because he is not interesting enough. There are too many words employed for what he has to convey. It is possible to correct this by talking less, but similarly the criticism will disappear if the same amount of speech is used to carry less waffle and more substance. The substitute is not the'more music less talk' approach now adopted by some stations.

In most cases it is even necessary to have a producer assigned to the programme. He can help to make additional bits and pieces of programme material, which will help to bring the show alive. Recorded on tape, these may consist of snatches of music, sound effects, funny voices on echo, chords of music, double speed tape and so on. Only the amount of time set aside for preparation and the presenter's own imagination, sets limits on what can be achieved in this way. All inserts are very brief but they enliven the presenter's normal speech material, adding an element of unpredictability and increasing the programme's entertainment value.
However, whether the programme is simple or complex, the personality deejay should, above all, be fun to listen to. The show may give the impression of spontaneous happening but sustained success is seldom a matter of chance. It comes only as a result of careful preparation and hard work. Script writing is a complete necessity in broadcasting. Even in programmes that essentially derive from adlibbing, the presenter may not write a full-length script -in terms of details. He needs to be guided by a written outline without which the programme can lose logical continuity.

Contrary to what some stations now want us to believe, there is no blanket approach advocating for "more music and less talk." Although it is generally not advisable to talk too much in any music programme, the aim of a programme and its target audience will determine how much a presenter needs to say. In 'personality' and 'specialist' presentations for instance, it will be untidy to talk too much. But in a programme like "Artist of the week" for example, even though the listener is interested in the music, the profile of the artist is very vital.

If the deejay keeps himself busy with all these essential formalities, he will turn out to be a better broadcaster; and will find it more fulfilling than the financial reward.

By Benson Idonije of the Guardan Newspaper

2009:Movies,music and more!

There‘s music in the air, as I write - just like there was music in the year, from January to December. There‘s a movie playing in my head - memories of images from Jenifa, and Figurine and 2010 and many more clips that ruled the year.

My head is breathing and banging and thrumming; almost overwhelmed by all that went down this year: the good, the bad, and the absolutely unpalatable. The past 12 months have been engaging and exciting; filled with a mixture of fun, fabulous moments, and periods of havoc and hazards.

And it‘s all happened fast - so fast, even Usain Bolt would have had a difficult time keeping up with the pace. From Nayo‘s surprise retirement, to Lord of Ajasa‘s secret wedding, the confusion at PMAN, Dan Foster‘s alleged deportation and the messy divorce war between Alec and Kefee, the year kicked off with drama and more drama.

2009 will be remembered as the year Kemistry went to war with Inspiration FM, the year 9ice built his first home, Soul E parted ways with Ure Okezie, and Timaya got into a messy fight with his lover, Empress Njamah.

There‘s more! Ras Kimono returned home and tried to ‘bring reggae back‘, Ikechukwu dumped Storm Records for Mo‘ Hits, and Kween delivered her second baby boy. Rooftop MCs survived a nasty car crash while Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi lost her SUV to robbers. Talk of robbers, Gbenga Adeyinka, Jimmy JATT, Banky W all fell victims, lucky to escape with their lives. Death, meanwhile, snatched some of your favourite acts : Remi Abiola, Monsurat Omidina, Steve Kadiri, Nicholas Anukanti, Momoh Kubanje and Caroline Johnson.

Although it was released last year, Funke Akindele‘s Jenifa will easily pass as the most popular movie this year, influencing our general lingo, and winning a new kind of attention for Nollywood movies. Jenifa defied the theory of the critics, throwing up that question for the umpteenth time: “What and who really determines a good movie?‘‘ what Jenifa lacked in story and cinematography, The Figurine, Through the Glass, Guilty Pleasures and a few others seemed to bring in excess. And, if there were ever any doubts whether there‘ll be space for Nollywood in the re-emerging cinema arena, the screening of The Figurine, Through the Glass and Guilty Pleasures should erase all such doubts permanently.

If we ignore all the intrigues playing out at AGN (the Actors’ Guild), and the many lack-lustre movies still finding their way out of the industry, and focus on the few actors, directors, producers and enthusiasts determined to do things right, then it can be said that in 2009, Nollywood moved far away from a quantity-driven system, and stepped closer to an environment where quality is key.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the music scene. The musicians‘ union remains in coma, and piracy still reigns supreme. And, while the artistes earned big bucks all year, and amassed major awards like they‘re going out of fashion, the industry remained in chaos, with labels broke, broken and battered, and the quality of music castrated, cheapened and compromised.

To the casual observer, it would look like 2009 was a good year for the music industry in Nigeria. Far from it! It was a good year for a few artistes, no doubt. But it was a bad year for music business and allied industries — no thanks to unhindered intellectual property theft (including bootlegging, illegal internet file sharing and downloads), poor rights administration, lack of effective distribution network, continued flight of valuable professionals, poor CD pricing, poor quality control and monitoring system, and terribly poor funding.

The Nigerian music ‘industry‘ generated revenue running into billions in 2009; most of it coming from sponsorships, endorsements and performance fees - a dangerous trend, considering that the industry‘s primary products are audio and video CDs. Corporate dominance renders the industry vulnerable, and susceptible to manipulation and misdirection. And a change in policy by the big spenders could mean disaster for an over-reliant music sector.

Okay, stop fretting. There‘s some cause to smile: a distribution system — an alternative to Alaba — is gradually emerging, thanks to Soforte Entertainment and other stakeholders; the newly-formed Copyright society of Nigeria (COSON) is poised to make some difference; and the successes recorded by the likes of Femi Kuti, Darey Art Alade, Etcetera, MI, Bracket and Asa showed there‘s still some hope for serious, sensible sounds..

There‘s hope too, for the fashion industry. Young, gifted designers are setting up practice, while more and more beautiful young men and women are ignoring the call of blue-collar jobs and heading for the runway and photo studios. From South Africa to Milan and New York, Nigerian models, tailors and designers raised the green-white-green high, performing wonders with African fabrics, and contemplating a fresh path for the global fashion industry. But, as the controversies surrounding The Next Top Model have shown, the fashion industry too appears soiled with dirt, plagued by disorder and decaying in the absence of an effective watchdog. The most promising models are fleeing to South Africa and the US, while young designers are getting choked by the burden of competing with established foreign labels - which still find their way here en masse, in spite of government regulations.

On TV this year, the regulations proved to be a gift and a curse. Most Channels pushed up their local content, in obedience to NBC‘s 70:30 command. But most of the home-made programmes were nothing to write home about. The music shows all followed one pattern: either video rotation, or graphic news and voice overs. Apart from Celebrity Takes 2 (which is still on-going), same can be said for the reality-interactive TV shows that ruled the year: poorly adapted foreign concepts, poor execution. And it‘s not all the producers‘ faults - in a country where TV stations are shying away from developing or commissioning content; where independent producers who do have to part with an arm and a leg to get the programmes aired continuously, chances that we‘ll get palatable results are slim; very slim.

Unlike TV, there‘s some exciting stuff going on on radio. A fresh set of DJs and presenters are giving audiences what they want, and expectedly, listenership is soaring. Dozens of new stations kicked off all over the country this year (including Beat, Smooth, Classic etc), and many more are right now setting up, getting ready to go live. In a country where most of the major cities are plagued by traffic, rush-hour radio shows are making life easier; giving many something to fix their minds on, while they wade through the traffic. But, in terms of content and direction, majority of our FM stations are still heavily ‘Americanised‘. Most of the presenters either have accents or fake it, the entertainment news is filled with mostly Hollywood info, and the music, when not Rihanna and Jay Z and Beyonce, is from Nigerian acts who sound like (or want to sound like) them. In Lagos for example, apart from Wazobia, Eko FM and 107.5, most of the stations still do not include Fuji, Juju, Highlife or Afrobeat in their day-to-day playlist. If it‘s not pop music, then it‘s not flying! In fact, even if it‘s pop, and it‘s not fast enough, then no way! And because radio is powerful, the resultant effect is that majority of the acts coming out are now embracing pop music - even the established ones are looking for up tempo bubble gum sounds, to increase their chances of getting radio airplay.

And, because the librarians don‘t properly screen the music, and NBC is, most of the times, asleep, a lot of cuts that should have been labelled NTBB found their way to radio from January to December. You could be riding in the car with your kids around noon, and tune on the radio, only to be confronted by a raw, vulgar, or violent song coming from the speakers. Artistes no longer care about radio edits, the stations don‘t insist on it, and before the NBC notices what‘s happening and forces a ban, the songs would have already been on the air for months.

Sad

The entertainment Media (print and online) is more driven by local content; and practitioners less tolerant to entertainers‘ misdemeanours. But, while celebrity reporters and journalists are up and running, feeding fans with gossip, news and features from a personal, human interest perspective, art reporters appear to be on vacation — leaving actors, directors, musicians and artists to wander and stray — In the absence of regular, well-thought reviews, critiques, analyses and agenda setting.

It was the online community (through iTunes, Amazon, notjustok.com, bellanaija.com, thenetng.com, mytruspot.com, nigerianhiphop.net, youtube.com and others) that emerged the biggest surprise of the year. Well- designed and well-written, the blogs and journals are giving audiences what they want, and they‘re responding with love and attention. Who would have thought a day would come when artistes released their songs (and even albums) first on the internet before taking them to radio and physical stores? Nigeria still has a long way to go in terms of information technology and use of the World Wide Web. But the entertainment industry realised the power of the online tool this year - and we give them thumbs up for exploiting it in ways many would have thought impossible - well, including having Facebook video premieres and adopting the micro blogging service Twitter as an efficient PR tool...

In all, 2009 was not a terrible, wasted year. But it was not a fantastic year - sadly so, because we had an opportunity to spend the year the way we wanted to; we had a choice - to either reap the full benefits and move the industry forward in every ways possible, or to continue the chaos we call an industry.

Source: www.nigeriafilms.com

The Blossoming of the Nigerian Music Industry

Music has always been a part of our lives. After the Nation gained Independence on October 1st 1960, our Founding Fathers were busy charting courses that would lead to the advancement of the Nation in all sectors. Apart from movies which had been popular even from the Colonial era, music also brought succour to Nigerians. Popular artistes back in the days include but not limited to Late Bobby Benson, Osita Osadebe, Ebenezer Obey, Victor Olayia, I.k. Dairo, Sunny Okosun, Nico Mbanga, king Sunny Ade, Oliver de Coque, Victor Uwaifo, Onyeka Owenu, Christy Essien Igbokwe, Stella Monye, Chris Okotie.

The genre of music differed from one artiste to the other.Local hit songs recorded back in the days include but not limited to :
Nico Mbanga (Sweet Mother), Osita Osadebe (Osondi Owendi), Oliver de Coque (Boni boni identity), Mandy Brown (Taxi driver), Onyeka Owenu (One Love), Lorine Okotie (His love is that medicine), Charly boy (Before Before) Chris Okotie (ABC), Evy Edna Ogoli( Happy Birthday), Felyx and Mozes( Free), Felix Liberty (Ifeoma), Stella Monye (Nigeria go survive), Peterside Otong (where are the prophets), Ifeanyi Oyeabo (when the going is good and smooth), Mandators ( Rat race), Majek Fashek ( send down the rain), Esse Agesse (Fine pepper soup), Danny Wison (Mr Raggamofin) , Blacky( Rosy ), Raskimonu (Aromba stylee), Baba Fryo (dem go dey pose), Alex Zitto (Tickle me), Junior and Pretty(Monica).

Fuji, Afrojuju (with modified versions) were deployed by those who sang in their mother tongues such as Shina Peters, Adewale Ayuba, Pasuma wonder, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Kollington Ayinla.

Despite the array of artistes that have flooded the airwaves (TV and Radio) Nigerians back in the days were more inclined in to listening to foreign songs, especially those from the USA. The songs were played at the few concerts and enjoyed massive air play. The duo of Junior (late) and Pretty kicked the hit rap “Monica’ in vernacular which began to stir up rap in that direction. “The Remedies in the mid 90’s made a great impact, followed by the Plantation Boiz (Tu face, Faze, Blackface).

The solo career embarked upon by Tu Face Idibia with the hit song “African Queen” opened more International doors to Nigerian artistes. Prestigious Award platforms (local and International) such as MAMA, KORA, NMVA,SMVA, HIP HOP WORLD AWARDS, highly powered Corporate influence, Music events, Reality TV music shows (Idol West Africa, Nokia First Chance, Project Fame West Africa), massive radio airplay, great musical videos, music programmes on TV ( MTV Base, Sound City, Hip TV, Monster Muzik, Nigezie, Da New life beat, Prime Time Africa, Jimmy’s jump off, Video Wheels, Entertainment Plus, Music Africa) and of course fame and fortune have acted as catalysts in conferring the Music Industry with the foremost position in the Entertainment Industry.

New Generation artistes who have recorded hit songs include:
Tu Face Idibia (African queen), Style plus (Olufumi), D’Banj (koko),
P-Square (Busy body, do me), Paul Play ( Moserire, Angel of my life), 9ice(Kongoaso), Sasha( Adara), Naeto C (kini big deal), Asa( Jailer), T.Y. Bello (Green land), Infinity( Olorioko), Sammie Okposo(Oruko Jesu), Faze (kolomental), Roof Top Mcs (Lagimo), Olu maintain( Yahooze), Bracket (yori yori), Mid night crew(Igwe) and others.

The Nigerian Music Industry has come a long way and is poised to take the Global market by storm.

Source:www.articlesbase.com/music

THE decade of the '70s was characterised in Nigeria by Afro-fusion music, with the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti as the major inspirer. But alongside this revolution, juju music was also flourishing with Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade as major exponents who were perceived at the time by their numerous fans as archrivals.

An intriguing aspect of this development was that the two musicians had their different styles, backgrounds and approaches, a situation which made this perceived rivalry a healthy one that added value to the emerging juju music of that period. It was not the type of rivalry that engendered bad blood but that of competition, motivating each exponent into releasing records that were capable of out doing the other persons output. The situation forced both men to work harder on their lyrics and instrumentation, all of which in the end turned out great hits that have become evergreen.

The music which made it for Obey in the '70s was Board Members recorded in 1972 upon the band's return from Britain; and board members has been his best selling hit over the years. Other hits of the 70s include Iwa ika kope (1974), KeteKete, Epo ila (1973), Ota mi dehin lehin mi (1976), Eto Igbeyawo and Madele (1974) amongst several others.

Some of the hits with which Sunny Ade competed with Obey include Esu biri biri, Ekilo fomo ode, Nitori awa, and Synchro system, a performer that was inspired by the emerging Afro beat influence of that period, among others.

Even though they were not enemies, each made statements and claims that tended to portray the one as superior to the other. For example, they both re-introduced multiple guitars which were used as far back as the 1940s by the Jolly Boys Orchestra into their instrumentation, but Obey claimed responsibility for introducing these guitars Western drum kits, and the transition of the music from a neo-traditional form to an urban social type. Said Obey who made his first record in 1963, "I noticed that people like to stick to their own ways, especially old people. They don't want to compromise. But the younger ones always want freedom from the old system.

"They want new things; and knowing that, I modernized the music, and created my own fashion in music, the miliki system.

And I happened to be the one who started the modernisaiton of juju music. The fathers of juju music only played one guitar. I introduced three guitars and arranged it in such a way that would catch the attention of the youth and cross to the older folk, so as to have both ears of listeners, and it worked. The three guitars are tenor, rhythm and lead."

In order to keep the competition aflame, Sunny himself would not only lay claim to the introduction of these multiple guitars, he emphasized the innovation of the tenor guitar which Bob Ohiri, who was exposed to it in Fela's Africa 70 later played in Sunny's African Beats aggregation.As a way of massaging his superiority, he began to pontificate and pronounce on the origin and actual essence of juju music, saying:
"The name, juju music, was given to the particular music by the colonial people." Continuing, the king of juju music said, "In the olden days, any black African medicine was called juju, any music played around there they called it juju music. But now it is a different type of music entirely and we still want the name to remain."

Even though this explanation is not in consonance with the more credible story of the' origin of juju music, Sunny Ade was granted audience by a foreign interviewer who reckoned with his views because they were coming from one of the major exponents of juju music.The more credible story is the one told by Ambrose Campbell and Fatai Rolling 'Dollar who spoke from empirical evidence because they participated in the ebb and flow of the music - from the 30s. Their version of the story 'links the origin of the name, "juju" to the 'tambourine', an instrument which was thrown at will by its exponent whenever excitement and inspiration took over.

The perceived rivalry between Obey and Sunny in the 70s inspired a lot of followers in a trend which enthroned juju music as mainstay in Lagos and the Yoruba speaking States of the West at the end of the civil war in 1970. The music flourished because of the absence of highlife, which had declined and gone with the war.

The two have become legends. In a sense they can be referred to as innovators because they had the greater number of followers- musicians whose music became steeped in the system of Obey and Sunny, artistes they saw as their mentors. This was despite the fact that there were such individual styles by I.K. Dairo and Orlando Owoh, which could broaden the scope of juju music.

As it turned out, the rivalry that took place between Obey and Sunny was the making of their different fans, some of whom were so fanatical and loyal, they were prepared to antatogise anyone who did not worship their idols or records because they preferred one to the other.

The musicians themselves were friends but they fuelled and manipulated the situation to their own advantage. It helped to boost the sales of their records which they released one after the other, in quick succession.However, as a show of solidarity and friendship, the two made an effort to dispel the rumour and perceived feeling that they were antagonists.

The venue was "Obey Miliki Spot" at Olonode, Yaba,Lagos, a night club which was previously patronized by Fela Ransome Kuti's Koola Lobitos when the place was called "Crystal Garden". The date was August 16, 1973 when Sunny Ade went to join Ebenezer Obey on the stage to play guitar solos and accompaniment to Obey's music. The audience screamed with excitement.

In order to convince their different fans that as musicians, they were friends in the same profession, Sunny released an album which had in it Oro tonlo, meaning "what people are saying", where he further asked their fans to stop insinuating that the two of them were enemies, warning them to stop fanning the embers of hatred and antagonism where they did not exist.The perceived rivalry, which existed only in the imagination of the artistes' fans, was obviously a gimmick of circumstance made out to drive the talents of the two great musicians. And it worked perfectly.

Sunny Ade's image and popularity since the 70s have reached tremendous dimensions. He has become one of the biggest stars not only in Nigeria and Africa, but also across Europe and America. In 1981, for instance, Sunny Ade blazed into global prominence when Island Records signed him on.

On the other hand, his rival, Ebenezer Obey has since become an institution and big influence across West Africa. Even though now an evangelist, he is a successful entrepreneur and still comes out of semi retirement to perform ground- breaking gospel music.

Culled:The Guardian

As Broadway musical 'Fela!' set open, everything you need to know of Afrobeat legend:

1. The legendary musician later known as Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on Oct. 15, 1938 in Abeokuta,Nigeria.
2. In 1958, the young musician went to London to study medicine. Instead, he switched to Trinity College of Music.
3. At school, Fela formed the band Koola Lobitos, with whom he developed an early version of the style that would forge an entire genre: Afrobeat.
4. Afrobeat fuses African jazz, funk, Ghanaian highlife and psychedelic rock. This groove-based music style prizes roiling jams and improvised interplays between rhythm and soloing that can balloon the songs from 10 minutes to even 40 minutes.
5. Fela played many instruments, from guitar to drums, but his fat, juicy sax work remained his signature sound.
6. In 1960, Fela married the first of 27 wives. He drew many from his pool of dancers and backup singers. The star explained his polygamy by saying, "A man goes for many women in the first place."
7. In the '70s, Fela divorced 12 of the wives. By the mid-'80s, he got rid of the remaining 15. His explanation? "Marriage brings jealousy and selfishness."
8. In 1969, Fela played the very first dates with his band in America. Here, he came under the influence of the Black Panther Party, whose fiery stances inspired him to further politicize his music. That became evident in his new band: Nigeria '70.
9. After being deported from the U.S. for not carrying the proper work permits, Fela returned to Nigeria and formed the Kalakuta Republic, a recording facility and commune that he came to declare as its own state, distinct from Nigeria. 10. Fela soon changed his middle name to Anikulapo (meaning "he who carries death in his pouch"). He called his birth middle name, Ransome, "a slave name."
11. The musician's increasingly political, and confrontational, music started to alarm the Nigerian government, which raided his Kalakuta compound.
12. In 1972, British superstar drummer Ginger Baker (late of Cream) recorded music with Fela that greatly upped the African's profile with Western rock fans.
13. In 1977, Fela's anti-military album "Zombie" so angered the government, it launched an attack on Kalakuta, which resulted in the death of Fela's mother, who was thrown from a window. The studio and compound was destroyed. Fela himself narrowly escaped death.
14. In 1979, Fela formed his own political party and tried to run for president of the country, but the government refused his candidacy.
15. In 1984, Nigeria's military govern-ment threw him in jail, accusing him of currency smuggling. He spent 20 months in prison.
16. In 1986, Fela enjoyed his greatest Western exposure by performing at Giants Stadium in an Amnesty International concert that also featured Bono and Santana.
17. On Aug. 6, 1997, Fela died of Kaposi's sarcoma, brought on by AIDS. More than 1 million people attended his funeral.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/11/22/2009-11-22_fela_kuti_as_broadway_musical_fela_set_to_open_everything_you_need_to_know_of_af.html#ixzz0Xga6XmKv

'Fela!' and fate reunite Broadway show's stars stars, who were friends as teens

It took almost 15 years, but Sahr Ngaujah and Saycon Sengbloh are together again on stage — albeit a much larger stage.When the Broadway musical "Fela!" opens today, high school best friends Ngaujah and Sengbloh will reunite as Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and his lover/confidant Sandra Isidore."It's the first time that Broadway has ever really dealt with Afrobeat, and it's the first time that Sahr and I have worked together in a long time," says Sengbloh, 32. "That's special."

The show, conceived, choreographed and directed by Bill T. Jones, and backed by the likes of Jay-Z,Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, tells the story of Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who endured brutality at the hands of the Nigerian government for his music's political leanings.While life wasn't quite as rough for Ngaujah (pronounced n-GOW-ja) and Sengbloh growing up together in the Atlanta suburb of College Park, it certainly was no picnic, either. They both attendedTri-cities High School, a public performing arts school that has produced famous performers such as "Saturday Night Live" star Kenan Thompson and OutKast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi.

"I remember meeting Sahr on the school bus when I was in ninth grade," says Sengbloh. "He was handing out religious pamphlets and acting very serious. I thought he was cool, but it was only later that I found out he was in the theater program."Life for a Tri-Cities student in the early '90s was tough. Despite being a performing arts high school, Tri-Cities remained "one of the roughest, meanest schools in the whole city," according to Ngaujah, 33. "They combined three schools to make Tri-Cities and everybody had something to prove." To escape the fighting, both immersed themselves in the school's dance, art, theater and music programs under the direction of drama department head Freddie Hendricks.

"We performed together a lot in those days," remembers Ngaujah. "Freddie Hendricks also ran a theater company outside of school, and we became leading players in this troupe. So we would be at school all day, then we'd do our magnet studies in the evening, and after that, we would go to some local, dusty gym for rehearsals.""We spent all our days and evening together," adds Sengbloh. "We might as well have lived together."

Today, Hendricks recalls Ngaujah as "the most focused young man I have ever seen"; Sengbloh, he says, "always had a beautiful voice". "I get the chills everytime I talk about it," Hendricks says. "I'm coming to the opening night. I'm going to be Saycon's date on the carpet. That goes to show you how close we are and what kind of bond we have.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/11/22/2009-11-22_fela_and_fate_reunite_shows_stars_stars_who_were_friends_as_teens.html#ixzz0XgSCZwW2