MUSIC legend, Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, famously known as King Sunny Ade, clocked 80 on Tuesday, September 22. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Adegeye, also known by the moniker KSA, is one of the Nigerian musicians who popularised the Yoruba Juju music and hoisted it onto the global stage. His international success has earned him a place in history as one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Beginning with the formation of his band in 1967, which he named the African Beats, KSA has traversed several record labels, including Island Records in 1982, before owning his own independent label. His albums, Juju Music, (1982) and Synchro System (1983) put him on the lips of the world, with the 1983 hit earning him a Grammy nomination. He achieved the same feat in 1998, with a Grammy nomination for his album, Odu. Sunny Ade’s move to Island Records came after he was head-hunted by the British label owner, Chris Blackwell. This followed the death of Bob Marley, who was Blackwell’s major musical export from Jamaica. Upon Marley’s death, the label turned towards Africa. Sunny was introduced to Blackwell by Martin Meissonnier, and a deal was struck that led to the 1982 record. The album gave Sunny Ade so much global leverage that he was dubbed ‘the African Bob Marley’. Shortly after, however, he became estranged from Island Records. Even so, his brief stint on the label opened doors for many other African musicians like Mali’s Salif Keita and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour.
Known globally as the King of World Beats and creator of the Golden Mercury sound, Sunny Ade is undoubtedly one of Black Africa’s greatest artistes. In his decades of musical engagements, he has traversed the world to promote his brand of music in a way that no other Juju musician has. Adegeye hails from Ondo town in Ondo State, though he was born in Osogbo, Osun State, to a church organist father and a trader mother, Maria Adegeye. Maria was a scion of the Akure royal dynasty, with the highly revered Oba Olofinlade Afunbiowo Adesida I, the legendary 41st Deji of Akure Kingdom and patriarch of the influential Adesida royal dynasty, being her relative. He began his musical career with the Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band owned by the famous Yoruba comedian, Moses Olaiya, popularly known as Baba Sala. From there, Sunny Ade formed his own band which he named The Green Spots in 1967. For a very long time, his band was known as the African Beats, but he later switched to the Golden Mercury. This switch was attributed to musical direction and business strategy.
Critics say KSA’s stylistic form of Juju was born out of the style of Tunde Nightingale, a musician of the same genre in the 1970s. Over the decades, however, he has stamped his own art and musical form on the global stage in a transformative manner. He achieves the right blend of beats, stage presence, and a deft deployment of language and rhythm to inhabit a class of his own. Sunny Ade was one of many musicians of the 1970s who enthralled audiences and popularised the Juju genre of Yoruba music. With colleagues like Ebenezer Obey, Emperor Pick Peters, Dele Abiodun, Ahuja Bello and many others, Juju music was characterised by instruments like the Yoruba talking drum and the guitar, which were rooted in Yoruba tradition and custom. Their music was an admixture of age-old Yoruba oral poetry called ewi, with an infusion of dense proverbs and incantations called ogede or ofo. They were delivered in danceable and eclectic rhythms. What these musicians did was recalibrate the tradition of their forefathers and document it for posterity in evergreen songs.
Sunny Ade, however, sidestepped virtually all his colleagues. He fashioned his own brand of Juju music, infusing into it the pedal steel guitar, as well as several attempts at ‘funkifying’ his sound. More than this, he uniquely branded his music through the introduction of the tenor guitar, vibraphone, synthesisers and clarinet into his repertoire. These helped carve a unique blend for his music. As modern instruments entered Sunny Ade’s music, he did not forsake the traditional African elements that made him the darling of millions. Sadly, however, the Juju music establishment became depleted, leaving Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey as the sole exponents. Many critics pilloried the incessant rivalry, musical rhetoric and mutual rain of abuses in the Juju genre that gained infamous traction in the 1970s/80s. It was also alleged that, beyond these exchanges, the musicians attempted to spiritually neutralise one another, and that these attempts were responsible for the early downfall and deaths of many of them.
Significantly, Sunny Ade proceeded to do Nigerian music proud through collaborations with famous musicians around the world. He collaborated with Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango on Wakafrika, as well as with younger artistes at home like Wasiu Alabi Pasuma. It is also on record that in the 1980s Sunny Ade’s works were featured in Hollywood: his music appeared in Breathless, a 1983 film starring Richard Gere. In 1986, One More Saturday Night, a comedy, also featured his music. He then acted in a 1987 comedy by Robert Altman titled O.C. and Stiggs. Sunny Ade also featured in a couple of Nollywood movies in the early 2000s. In recognition of his imprints on the sands of time, King Sunny Ade has been honoured with diverse awards. He was inducted into the Hard Rock Cafe Hall of Fame in 2016, as well as the Headies Hall of Fame in February 2021. As part of his 80th birthday, a music fiesta in his honour was put together by fellow Juju great Evangelist Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, popularly known as Ebenezer Obey. Obey led a galaxy of veteran musicians, including Fuji artistes Kollington Ayinla and Abass Akande Obesere, as well as other prominent musical personalities. KSA has brought succour to those who were down, uplifted many lives through his music, and become an exemplar. In the process, he has fought many musical battles and battles for recognition, ultimately becoming a model with his eclectic dancing steps.
We, however, want to use the occasion of KSA’s 80th birthday to deplore the gradual death of his genre, Juju, with another Yoruba genre, Fuji, seeming to take over the stage. There is a dearth of younger talents in Juju, in contrast to what is seen in Fuji, although Fuji itself has its own issues. This points to one indubitable fact: Juju needs reformation. This can start with mentoring a new crop of Juju artistes and extinguishing the infamous and unhealthy rivalry of the past that plagued the genre. KSA, Obey and a sprinkling of others of their generation who remain on the scene can take up this charge. Their songs contain elevated lyrics that diverge from the banality of today’s musicians. As music cannot be made just for music’s sake, and as music cannot serve just one generation, Juju content today must be recreated to carry the highly educative lyrical content of the Sunny Ade hue.