JUJU, FUJI ON THE REPLAY
Living in Nigeria in the 70s and 80s, most radio and television stations played indigenous African music such as Apala, Highlife, Juju and Fuji. Names like Bobby Benson, King Sunny Ade, Salawa Abeni, Kollington Ayinla, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Prince Adekunle, Haruna Isola, Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, Sir Shina Peters and more set the media agog. They produced the hits songs of the period and defined the cultural landscape with their variants of the popular music genres.
While other music genres are largely influenced by foreign music, Fuji and Juju were the two prominent and indigenous music genres that were popular at social gatherings in Nigeria. They were parallels, with their musicians divided by fan-based rivalry. In recent times, pop, hip-hip and dancehall have added colour to the Nigerian music scene in the way the older generation of artists did not envisage. Pop musicians, without a band or an album, soar to the peak of their career grossing millions of naira with their hit singles. They have earned names such as “DJ track one” for their lack of ingenuity in stage performances.
Social events predominantly explore urban Nigeria music and it seems that Fuji and Juju music may have gone into extinction. For this reason, an annual discourse on Fuji and Juju music called “Ariya Repete”, was initiated by Goldberg to bring back the glory days of Nigerian indigenous music. At the last roundtable held in Lagos recently, scholars and media professionalism talked shop on how to revitalise these phenomenal music genres. Scholars have written on some of the popular music genres and many will wonder why Juju and Fuji are suddenly very important. The reasons are not far-fetched.
Our media is inundated with pornographic music and music videos on a daily basis. Our new crop of artists write identical lyrics around the same themes of sex and immorality using unfettered language. When you tune to different stations within an hour, it is as though the same song is playing on every radio dial. It can be irritating. Asides a station like Classic FM, which has the mandate to play “every song you know” and perhaps Smooth Fm’s classic collections, other radio stations dish out vibes that extol female anatomy, overemphasise masculine and sex appeal, with a lot of noisy beats by the way.
No doubt, not all Nigerian new music belongs to the garbage. There are some musicians that had appropriated some raw materials of Afrobeat, Fuji and Juju in making crossover hits. Artists such as Wizkid, Olamide, Burna Boy have made distinctive songs from this creative effort. Meanwhile, the new trend is that contemporary Fuji musicians are veering into pop traditions to make bankable statements. Pasuma, the Orobokibo king is a case in point. This is a dangerous trend as far as some conservative music critics are concerned because the traditional music. genre is threatened by foreign influence.
At the roundtable on Fuji and Juju, another argument that ensued amongst the discussants was that though the older generation of artists did produce great songs that were educative and morally inspiring, they also produced songs with graphic lyrics. As a matter of fact, some of them had their songs banned from radio and television. For instance, Sir Shina Peters’ Ace’ Side A had some tracts banned on air for a certain period of time and when those lyrics are compared to what is permitted on radio today, you will wonder if our regulatory authorities have lost their sense of hearing over time.
In his keynote address, Prof. Tunde Babawale extolled Fuji and Juju musicians as promoters of moral education, national unity and civility. He cited the examples of Chief Ebenezer Obey’s music and how his music and those of his peers had impacted on nation building.
King Wasiu Ayinde, on his part, traced the roots of Fuji music to folks entertainment, stating why the Goldberg brand shares similar taste in nightlife culture as Fuji music.
“The truth is that you have said it all from the point of view of a scholar that has done his research,” he began. “That is why he is was able to make direct points. I doubt the number of Nigerian artists who have travelled abroad to do seminars and discuss Nigerian music. From the panellists here, I can see a good followers hip of Fuji music. I have been a professional musician for over 50 years. I started playing music at the age of 8. I understudied Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. Before him, Fuji music had been played by our fore fathers. I was born in Lagos Island, Okesuna precisely.
I grew up between Okesuna and Idumagbo avenue. The word evolved from “Faaji” meaning “fun”.
“At the Lagos Island, we had many settlers. Lagos Island was the home of civilisation. That is why Lagos never sleeps. Other cities sleep before 10 pm but that is not Lagos. Ajiwere was one of those who made Fuji popular,” he said.
Sir Shina Peters expressed appreciation for the reception of juju music and gladly accepts the responsibility of uniting new generation of juju musicians. He also promised to work with KWAM I on a collaborative album very soon.