V.A. - 1970's Nigeria Pop

Many people may currently associate Nigeria with some rather negative things yet as evidenced in this blog Nigeria has produced some amazing music. This was especially true in the 1970's as Nigeria was coming out of a brutal civil war into a major oil boom. Thus giving the opportunity for many bands to play not just the politically charged music that the country is famous for but also very "poppy" style songs. Here I have put together a small compilation of some of my favorite old school Nigerian pop songs. There are some very cool songs in here and if you are any fan at all of music from Nigeria or Africa itself or if you just want an introduction into the music of this country then I recommend giving this one a listen.

1. Cloud 7 - Beautiful Woman

2. Bongos Ikwue And The Groovies - Sitting On The Beach

3. Founders 15 - Be My Own

4. Kris Okotie - I Need Someone

5. Rex Williams - You Are My Heart

6. The Apostles - She's A Dropout

7. Sir Victor Uwaifo -Guitar Boy

8. Sir Victor Uwaifo - West African Safari 

9. Sonny Okosun - Help

10. Bongos Ikwue And The Groovies - Still Searching 

11. Sweet Breeze - She's Cooler Than You 

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William Onyeabor

Today I thought I would share some music from one of the most mysterious and best musicians to come out of the 70s-80s Nigerian music scene, William Onyeabor. I first heard his music a few years back and instantly became addicted though with the exception of a few songs there wasn't much material out there and there was absolutely no information out there on who William Onyeabor was. His music is very hard to describe almost a mix of Afro-Funk or Afro-Rock with way ahead of its time electronic that makes for an extremely unique sound. His music also used equipment such as synthesizers which at the time were way out of budget for the vast majority of African musicians and studios giving rise to the theory that Onyeabor was backed by someone "big" in Eastern Europe and thus the source of his money and equipment. Never the less through his music Onyeabor shows some amazing talent and creativity in making some amazing music. I usually like to upload full albums to the blog but this is one of those times when I will only upload a sample of a few songs. The reason for this being that independent label Luaka Bop just released the album "Who  is William Onyeabor?" and if you like the songs I am uploading here I highly encourage you to buy this album to support this label and encourage them to release more if this super rare material.

1. Better Change Your Mind
2. Atomic Bomb
3. When The Going is Smooth and Good

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Nigeria Special (3) Sir Victor Uwaifo - Guitar Boy Superstar

Victor Uwaifo is in my opinion the best guitarist to come out of the Nigerian music scene and could also rival any of the more well known guitarists of the Western World. Guitar Boy Superstar compiles some of his greatest hits though ironically the song Guitar Boy which is one of my favorites was left off you can find it on Youtube though.
If you play electric guitar or are a fan of any type of music that revolves around this instrument I highly recommend this album! A personal favorite on here is West African Safari which almost does make you feel like you're in a Range Rover going through the West African desert.

1. Kirikisi   

2.Igboroho  

3.Idogo   

4.Egbe Natete   

5.Edenderio   

6.Obodo Eyo  

 7.Talking Instruments 

 8.Agho  

9.Iye Iye Oh  

10.Mother Witch   

11.Atete   

12.Ebibi  

13.Osalobua Rekpama   

14.Do Lelezi   

15.Akuyan   

16.Dododo   

17.Madaka  

18.Happy Day From Me To You   

19.West African Safari

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Nigeria Special (2) Sonny Okosun

Sonny Okosun is arguably one of the most recognized and famous Nigerian artists after Fela Kuti. Much like with Fela, Okosun's music was heavily influenced by politics and the social issues going on in Africa at the time. One of his mos famous songs is Fire in Soweto which talks about the different struggles and conflicts happening in Africa at the time and how the common man was the one that kept being the most affected by these. He developed his own sound so much so that his music came to be simply known as Ozziddi. The sound quality is a bit rough on some of these songs but give them a listen as they are great and do a great job of showing the harsh realities that the African continent has and continues to face to this day.

1. Third World
2. Fire in Soweto
3. Tire Ni Oluwa
4. Tell Them
5. My Woman

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Nigeria Special (1) - Bongos Ikwue

Nigeria has been one of the African countries with the greatest music scenes, giving the world the heavily political artists Fela Kuti and Sonny Okosun not to mention genres like afrorock and afrofunk. Today I will focus on 70's Nigerian pop artist Bongos Ikwue who from what I have gathered (not being Nigerian but hearing what Nigerians have said to me) was extremely popular and famous. At one point even becoming part of a scandal after his song Mariama was supposedly said to be about the Nigerian first lady.

I am posting a compilation of songs of his that I have found online and gathered, the audio on some is a bit rough but this is still great music. As a side note to anyone who cares if you listen to Bongos music and that of other Nigerian artists as well you will hear what seems like an influence from the classic American country music sound which to me is kind of interesting.
Hope you enjoy the music!
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1.Never Never Say Never Again
2. Tear Drops
3. I've Found a Woman
4. Still Searching
5. Sitting On The Beach
6. Love My Girl
7. Mariama
8. You've Got To Help Yourself
9. So Far So Good
10.Woman Made The Devil

Part 2
1. No More Water in The Well
2. Show The Man Who Don't Need A Woman
3. Baby Let Me Go
4. What Am I To Do

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