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Fuji music

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Fuji
Stylistic originsWere music
Cultural origins1960s, Western Nigeria
Regional scenes
Nigeria
Other topics
Apala

Fuji is a popular Nigerian musical genre. It arose from the improvisational wéré music, also known as ajísari (meaning "waking up for sari"), a genre of music performed to wake Muslims before dawn during the Ramadan fasting season. Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister popularized wéré music during the 1950s and 60s and conceived the term fújì in an unusual way.[1] According to Barrister, "I came up with it when I saw a poster at an airport, advertising the Mount Fuji, which is the highest peak in Japan." Fújì should not be mistaken for the Yorùbá word "fuja," or "faaji," which means leisure or enjoyment.

History

Wéré music is an Islamic-influenced Yorùbá genre of music invented by the Muslim singers and musicians in Yorùbá towns and cities in southwestern Nigeria to wake Muslims who were fasting during Ramadan. Toward the end of the colonial period during the 1950s, Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara and Ganiyu Kuti (Gani Irefin)[2] founded and popularized wéré in Ibadan.

During the 1950s and 60s, numerous wéré performance groups emerged within Muslim communities in Lagos and Ìlọrin. These early performers drew great inspiration from Yoruba sákárà music, featuring the sákárà drum (without the violin-like goje instrument normally played with an accompanying fiddle). The long list of notable Isale Eko (lower lagos city) wéré performers during the early Independence years included Sikiru Omo Abiba, Ajadi Ganiyu, Ayinde Muniru Mayegun (General Captain), Ajadi Bashiru, Sikiru Onishemo, Kawu Aminu, Jibowu Barrister (under whom Sikiru Ayinde Barrister performed), Ayinde Fatayi, Kasali Alani, Saka Olayigbade, Ayinla Yekinni, and Bashiru Abinuwaye.

Varying styles were beginning to evolve by this time, and it was not unusual for a few to play mouth organs (harmonica) between wéré interludes within their compositions. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister was the lead singer and composer of the popular wéré group, Jibowu Barrister, under the leadership of Alhaji Jibowu Barrister. During the 1960s, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and other young wéré groups rocked Lagos and its environs.[3]

In one of his early albums, which he used to chide the unreasonable critics who dubbed his creation "a local music," Sikiru Ayinde Barrister described fújì music as a combination of music consisting of sákárà, Apala, jùjú, Aro, Afropop, and gudugudu, and some elements of highlife. Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister did a tremendous job of popularizing his craft by taking it all over the world; he started touring the European continent, especially in England during the 1970s and the United States throughout the 1980s. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister toured the internationally before any subsequent fújì bands toured outside of Nigeria.

Between 1970 and throughout the 1980s, other fújì musicians included Fatai Adio, Saura Alhaji, Student Fuji, Rahimi Ayinde (Bokote), Ramoni Akanni, Love Azeez, Waidi Akangbe, Sikiru Olawoyin, Agbada Owo (who experimented with the guitar), Iyanda Sawaba, Ejire Shadua, Wahabi Ilori, Wasiu Ayinde Barrister (who later changed his name to Wasiu Ayinde Marshall), Suleiman Adigun, Sakaniyau Ejire, and Wasiu Ayinla. As these artists became prolific, they each introduced their unique styles of fújì music.

While male musicians dominate fuji, reflecting fuji’s origins in wéré music, women artists have developed fújì-related styles called Islamic and wákà. Islamic is a popular name for this genre of women’s fújì-related music, particularly in and around the city of Ìlọrin, while wákà is a more general pan-Yoruba term for this Muslim women’s genre. These styles emerged in the late 1950s and were originally performed by women vocalists for Islamic events such as weddings and celebrations for pilgrims returning from Mecca. Since the 1980s, professional Muslim women vocalists have fronted their own bands which are identical to fújì bands in their instrumentation. While the themes and aesthetics of Islamic are more closely related to Muslim morality than fújì, there is significant overlap between women’s genres and fújì. The majority of Islamic and waka bandleaders and back-up vocalists are women, while the rest of their bands are typically men. Women performers of Islamic and wákà have a dominant presence on stage and in videos.[4]

Modernization

During the early 1970s, Alhaji Kolington Ayinla (Baba Alatika or Kebe-n-Kwara) became a prolific fújì performer and Barrister's long-term musical rival. Wasiu Ayinde Marshall Barrister (K1 De Ultimate) gradually emerged (with hits such as "Talazo Fuji") after tutelage under Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. For 15 years, Wasiu Ayinde served under Sikiru Ayinde Barrister in various roles, including as his instrument packer and notably as his road manager. Wasiu Ayinde's style evolved through the early 1990s as he added youthful vigor to a genre dominated by aging frontmen. By the end of the 1990s, Wasiu Ayinde's brand of fújì had become one of the most popular dance genres in Nigeria. Another artist, Adewale Ayuba, took the nation by storm in the early 1990s with his unique brand of fújì, "Bonsue Fújì," which appealed to young and old alike. Abass Akande Obesere (Omo rapala) also became popular in the 1990s, known for brining street slang called "asakasa" into the fújì scene. Most fújì lyrics are in the Yorùbá language. Due to its popularity with young Nigerians, fújì hook lines often become the main hook lines of Nigerian hip-hop music.

Continued growth

Popular modern fújì musicians in Nigeria include Rasheed Ayinde Adekunle Merenge, Abass Akande obesere (PK 1), Sir Shina Akanni, Alhaji Isiaka Iyanda Sawaba, Adewale Ayuba, Wasiu Alabi, (Oganla 1) King Dr.Saheed Osupa (His Majesty), Late Sunny T Adesokan (Omo Ina ton ko fújì), Alayeluwa Sulaimon Alao Adekunle Malaika (KS1, Original ), Shefiu Adekunle Alao (Omo Oko), Sule Adio (Atawéwé), Tajudeen Alabi Istijabah (Oju Kwara), Wasiu Ajani (Mr. Pure Water), Taiye Currency, Alhaji Komi Jackson, Remi Aluko(Igwe fújì), Muri Alabi Thunder, Karube Aloma, Oyama Azeez (Arabesa, Alapatinrin, The Modern Real Fuji Creator), Murphy Adisa Sabaika (Madiba 2), Abiodun Ike Minister (Aremo Alayeluwa), Tunde Ileiru, Karubey Shimiu, Adeolu Akanni (Paso Egba), Shamu Nokia, (Quintessential) Sunny Melody, Olusegun Ologo, Segun Michael and Bola Abimbola.[5]

Today, fújì music has continued to attract younger generations. In the 2000s, many popular and successful fújì artists have emerged, including Shanko Rasheed, Wasiu Container, Cripsymixtee, Konkolo Wally G, Global T, and Muri Ikoko. In this generation of singers, Wasiu Ayinde Marshall continues to be the most recognizable name in the genre. Since their rise to popularity in the 1990s, Abass Akande Obesere, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma (Oganla Fuji), and King Saheed Osupa continue to dominate the fújì scene into the present.

Notes

  1. ^ Klein, Debra (2019). "Fuji" in Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world. Shepherd, John, 1947-. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 145–151. ISBN 0-8264-6321-5. OCLC 50235133.
  2. ^ W. Akpan, "And the beat goes on?", in M. Drewett and M. Cloonan, eds, Popular Music Censorship in Africa (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006), ISBN 0-7546-5291-2, p. 101.
  3. ^ Unknown facts about Sikiru Ayinde Barrister https://www.premiumtimesng.com/arts-entertainment/117934-unknown-facts-about-sikiru-ayinde-barrister-by-olayinka-olaribigbe.html#sthash.sZUtB1FO.dpbs Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Klein, Debra L. (2020). "Allow Peace to Reign: Musical Genres of Fújì and Islamic Allegorise Nigerian Unity in the Era of Boko Haram". Yearbook for Traditional Music. 52: 1–22. doi:10.1017/ytm.2020.5. ISSN 0740-1558.
  5. ^ World Music Central Bola AbimbolaRetrieved 25 December 2020
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