{"id":118110,"date":"2023-01-18T12:24:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T10:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=118110"},"modified":"2023-11-06T17:49:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:49:29","slug":"the-fuji-boom-gets-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/the-fuji-boom-gets-down\/","title":{"rendered":"The fuji boom gets down (2\/3)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Around the \u201870s, there was serious political unrest in Nigeria; a civil war erupted in 1970, leading to a mass murder of several Igbo Christians by Hausa and Fulani Muslims. Back then, Nigeria was culturally and religiously conservative as the nation was ruled by a military, ethno-nationalist government. While the people faced oppression from the ruling political class, the propagation of Christianity in Southern Nigeria resulted in society becoming more conservative. Fuji faced a lot of criticism from these culturally-conservative Christians, mostly belonging to the middle and upper class, who termed the genre local and hooligan. For fuji music listeners who belonged to the lower class in the society, fuji musicians like Ayinde Barrister who used their music to speak against the oppression by the ruling political class became the people\u2019s mouthpiece. Barrister released an album titled Omo<\/em> Nigeria<\/em><\/a>, where he sang about the political and economic state of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mid \u201870s, things started to look up as Nigeria entered its oil boom era, becoming a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Though, with the oil boom, wealth was distributed unequally among the elites, creating a larger divide between the upper\/middle and lower class, the country recorded an economic boost, improving the socio-economic status of all people. Then, shortly after the civil war, the government took over schools that were historically founded by religious institutions in a bid to make education more secular. All of these combined to propel fuji into the Nigerian mainstream; the elites who benefited from the oil boom hosted regular parties where fuji musicians were invited to perform; with education in Nigeria focusing more on secular ideas than rigid faith-based doctrine, people broke out of the conservatism that bounded them, and were more accepting of fuji music and its Yoruba muslim roots. There was also a respite from military rule between 1979 and 1983 and with the lifting of curfews, people used their newfound freedom to crowd into fuji shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal I and band<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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While Barrister and Kollington engaged in musical wars, a young man named Wasiu Ayinde Marshal had begun to carve a path for himself in fuji music. In the mid \u201880s, Wasiu released his critically-acclaimed album titled T<\/em><\/a>alazo \u201884<\/a><\/em>, a refreshing brand of fuji that appealed to socialites in the oil boom era. Before releasing Talazo \u201884<\/em>, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal was one of the singers in Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister\u2019s band, initially serving as a roadie under Barrister. Bringing a youthful energy to his style of fuji, Wasiu Ayinde Marshall (popularly known as K1 De Ultimate or Kwam 1) quickly became a pop star, performing mainly to the elites who had just begun to adopt fuji thanks to the singer\u2019s modernised image and style. He excelled particularly in the art of name-praising at his live shows – a core part of Fuji culture – singing praises of affluent people who in turn heaped bank notes upon his head. Wasiu Ayinde Marshal\u2019s style of fuji appealed broadly to younger people as well, introducing instruments like the keyboard and the saxophone to his music, giving his style a westernised touch. Wasiu Ayinde Marshal has often been said to be the most successful fuji musician due to his vast influence on the genre, having pushed fuji to surpass other indigenous genres like Juju or Highlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWasiu Ayinde was a rockstar. He still is. But back then, he was everywhere,<\/em>\u201d Billyque, a nightlife promoter and entertainment guru says, \u201cThere was no fuji musician as popular as he was. His shows used to be packed full of people. He was instrumental in the middle and upper class embracing fuji.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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