I've been listening to Dan Maraya on repeat today.
When I was growing up in Jos, #Nigeria, back in the 80s we only had 1 TV channel. Before transmission started at 4pm it'd show videos of a skinny guy playing a banjo and singing in Hausa.
That was Dan Maraya (dan in Hausa means 'of', maybe a little like 'Mac'). To be clear, I hated his music back then; I was into hip-hop. But today, I'm finding it comforting and nostalgic.
"There is no playbook for reducing exposure when people's homes are being sprinkled with lead dust from the sky."
The Auto Industry’s Lead Recycling Program is Poisoning People - The New York Times
#lead #Nigeria #environment #recycling
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/18/world/africa/lead-poisoning-car-battery.html
ThreadStone Rox – God Heal Nigeria
https://amf.didiermary.fr/threadstone-rox-god-heal-nigeria/
Pop-Rock from Nigeria.
Asa – Dead again
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dead-again-asa/
Asa‘s third studio album, Bed of Stone, was released in August 2014, with a folk sound similar to her previous albums Beautiful Imperfection and Aṣa. “Dead again” is the opening track. […]
Femi Kuti – The World is Changing
https://amf.didiermary.fr/femi-kuti-world-changing/
Femi Kuti released his 8th album “No Place for My Dream” in 2013, with the single “The World is Changing”, three years after “Africa For Africa”.
Poverty is winning the game…
Are you ready to fight?
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
https://amf.didiermary.fr/chief-stephen-osita-osadebe-nigerian-tv/
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe had his own show on Nigerian TV in the late 80s, here singing the classic “Osondi Owendi” (1984) with his Nigerian Sound Makers.
His career spanned over 40 years, and he is one of the best known Igbo highlife musicians.
“Osadebe succeeded in breaking away from the conventional big band format established […]
King Sunny Ade – King of Juju music
https://amf.didiermary.fr/king-sunny-ade-king-of-juju-music/
A few songs by the King of Juju Music, King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, from album “The Message” in 1981.
Harry Mosco – Step on
https://amf.didiermary.fr/harry-mosco-step-on/
“Step on” comes from Harry Mosco’s “Peace & Harmony” LP. Originally released in 1979 the album is something of a hidden gem that touches upon Disco, Funk, Boogie, Soul and Dub. Harry passed away in 2012. Harry Mosco Agada was the lead vocalist of The Funkees, and after they split up, he released solo albums […]
K1 de Ultimate – Talazo ’84
https://amf.didiermary.fr/k1-ultimate-talazo-84/
Fuji music, a style of music with deep roots in 50s traditional “Were” music performed to keep Yoruba Muslims entertained during the holy month of Ramadan, was also a battleground for a few artists like Wasiu Ayinde Marshall (aka K1 De Ultimate). Mid ’80s, Wasiu, one of the singers in Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s band, […]
M.anifest – Simple Love
https://amf.didiermary.fr/manifest-simple-love/
Follow a ballet dancer as she navigates her way through crowded streets and a market in slow-motion in “Simple Love,” a short film by M.anifest in 2018.
Dancer: Angelica Kankam
Muyiwa Kunnuji & Osemako
https://amf.didiermary.fr/muyiwa-kunnuji-osemako/
Baptized into the style of the precursors of 50s to 90s, Muyiwa Kunnuji is influenced by Afrobeat, Highlife, the Yoruba & Ogu rhythms, Jazz, Blues, Gospel.
Muyiwa, a self-taught trumpeter, has played with Fela Kuti, later on Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Tony Allen & many other bands of note. […]
Ekiti Sound – Testify
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ekiti-sound-testify/
“Abeg No Vex” is the first album released by Ekiti Sound in 2019.
Ekiti Sound spearheads a new musical dialogue between London and Lagos. His debut album wires novel musical circuitry into shape, soldering UK soundsystem culture, hip-hop and Afrobeat into new, haywire connections, a diverse chorus of global voices routed through its new configurations. […]
Fela Kuti – Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-teacher-nonsense-live/
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (and young Femi on sax) with Egypt 80: “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense” live in England, at Glastonbury in 1984.
From the vault: 2022
Africa comes to Real World: revisiting albums by six legendary artists
https://realworldrecords.com/features/long-reads/africa-comes-to-real-world-revisiting-albums-by-six-legendary-artists/
https://realworldrecords.com/news/new-reissue-series-africa-sessions-at-real-world-out-this-june/
#Africa #RealWorld #AfricanMusic #Tanzania #BurkinaFaso #Morocco #Nigeria #Senegal #SierraLeone
Compilation “Afro Baby – The Evolution of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria 1970-1979”
https://amf.didiermary.fr/afro-baby/
Nigeria in the 1970s had one of the biggest recording industries on the continent as well as one of the most diverse. The fusion of African rhythms and culture with jazz, funk, soul and rock was an Africa wide phenomenon but nowhere was […]
#70smusic #Compilation #FelaKuti #Highlife #Nigeria #OrlandoJulius #AfroBeat
Amadou Balaké – Super Bar Konon Mousso
https://amf.didiermary.fr/super-bar-konon-mousso-amadou-balake/
Although the video says it was recorded in Lagos in 1978, the reality, as Discogs states and as many musicians and bands did at that time, is that Amadou Balaké (or Ballaké) from Burkina Faso gathered musicians in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Fun insight... Which country do people come from, who visit the AMF blog... (last 3 months - Top5 - Google Search only)
1 - #Nigeria
2 - #USA
3 - #Tanzania
4 - #France
5 - #Uganda
Opika Pende – Africa At 78 RPM
https://amf.didiermary.fr/opika-pende-africa-78-rpm/
“Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM” is a 4-CD collection featuring 100 tracks, released in 2011, taken from rare 78 RPM recordings of African music (1909 to mid-1960s), none of which have ever been issued on CD.
Many African countries appear in this compilation, edited by Jonathan Ward: [...]
#Algeria #Compilation #Egypt #Ethiopia #FullAlbum #Mali #Morocco #Niger #Nigeria #Somalia #Tunisia #OldAfricanMusic
MzVee – Come and See My Moda Feat. Yemi Alade
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mzvee-come-see-moda-yemi-alade/
Music video in 2018 by talented Ghanaian songstress MzVee featuring Nigerian singer Yemi Alade in their new collaboration titled “Come and See My Moda,” produced by Kuami Eugene and Richie Mensah.
Nigeria bans airing of song criticising president
"Artist Eedris Abdulkareem's lyrics slam President Bola Tinubu and urge his influential son, Seyi, to let his father know 'people are dying' through hardship and insecurity and there is 'hunger' in the country."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8v4601q30o
PS: For many in Naija, Tinubu's nickname is "Tpain".
Listen below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3h0L-qv864
MzVee – Sing My Name Feat. Patoranking
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mzvee-sing-my-name-feat-patoranking/
2 versions of “Sing My Name” by MzVee, one with the Nigerian reggae-dancehall singer Patoranking, and the other with Willisbeatz.
Chief (Commander) Ebenezer Obey
https://amf.didiermary.fr/chief-commander-ebenezer-obey-aimasiko/
Ebenezer Obey (born in April 1942), aka Chief or Chief Commander, began his professional career in the mid-1950s after moving to Lagos. After tutelage under Fatai Rolling-Dollar‘s band, he formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlife–jùjú fusion. [...]
47 years ago today, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti died from injuries sustained the previous year, when Nigerian soldiers threw her out of a second-floor window during a raid on her son Fela’s home.
The feminist and revolutionary community organiser was 77 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funmilayo_Ransome-Kuti
Listen to: Coffin For Head of State https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-coffin-head-state/
Fati Niger – Girma Girma
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fati-niger-girma-girma/
Binta Labaran (professionally known as Fati Niger) is a Nigerien singer and actress, and earned the title of “Princess of Hausa music.”
So far, she has produced 4 albums and over 500 songs and also appeared in various Hausa Kannywood movies.
Newen Afrobeat & Seun Kuti – Zombie
https://amf.didiermary.fr/newen-afrobeat-seun-kuti-zombie/
A cover of Fela Kuti’s Zombie by Newen Afrobeat with Seun Kuti. In 2018, Newen Afrobeat returns to Nigeria to share with the Kuti family and participate in Felabration Lagos for the second time. A few months later, there is a new meeting between Seun and Newen Afrobeat, this time in Santiago de Chile on […]
