Celebrate, World 2 Sunny Ade

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King Sunny Ade & His African Beats - Juju Music (82 ^ 135mb)

King Sunny Ade is the undisputed king of juju music.Born to a Nigerian royal family in Ondo, Ade left grammar school to pursue his career, which began with Moses Olaiya's Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band. He left to form The Green Spots in 1967. He formed a record label in 1974, fed up with being exploited by a major label. Beginning with Juju Music, Ade began gaining a wide following as Mango Records, a subsidiary of Island Records, released his albums. Juju Music represented the first worldwide release for Adé, who was already established in his native Nigeria as its "biggest musical draw and juju music's reigning monarch". The album was a critical and commercial success,peaking at #111 on Billboard's "Pop Albums" chart. The New York Times, which described the album in 1982 as "the year's freshest dance-music album", credited it in 1990 with having launched the "World Beat movement in the United States". He was soon billed as the African Bob Marley, and headlined concerts in the US. Soon after, Nigerian imports (mostly pirated copies) of his massive back catalog began flooding the Western market. Island, concerned about sales and Adé's refusal to include more English in his repertoire, cut him loose after his third LP for them featuring Stevie Wonder, 1984's Aura didnt live up to the overbloated expectations they had. (As ever with these crooks its all about money not music).

By the end of the 1980s, Ade's star began to dim, and his albums sold less, though he continued to garner critical acclaim and widespread popularity in Africa. 1998's Odu, a collection of traditional Yoruba songs, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Ade has remained a powerful force in Nigeria. Money received from his early albums has been used to launch an oil firm, a mining company, a nightclub, film and video production company, a PR firm and a record label specializing in recordings by African artists. It's been estimated than more than seven hundred people are employed by Ade's companies..

With a phalanx of electric guitars that functions like a percussion section, and talking drums that sound like a gossipy Greek chorus, King Sunny Ade and His African Beats, all 20 of them, proved that African music could be as complex, dramatic, and symphonic as any European ensemble. Some thanks must go to French producer Martin Meissonier, who took the basic elements of Ade's sound--unison guitars, Yoruban drumming, seamless song medleys, and self-reflexive lyrics--and added a diverse assortment of Jamaican production techniques to heighten, deepen, and psychedelicize a sound that, with Ade's deliciously sweet vocals and the haunting strains of Demala Adepoju's Hawaiian 'space' steel guitar, was plenty wild to begin with. Sunny Adé's latest creative output, Grace of God was December 2007.

I've added my introduction to his work, Ja Funmi, back then i bought the 12 " aswell because of the B side Ja Funmi Waka... space is the place (its all in the head and rising)



01 - Ja Funmi (7:07)
02 - Eje Nlo Gba Ara Mi (7:17)
03 - Mo Beru Agba (3:27)
04 - Sunny Ti De Ariya (3:45)
05 - Ma Jaiye Oni (5:06)
06 - 365 Is My Number / The Message (8:17)
07 - Samba / E Falabe Lewe (8:06)
Xs - 12"
08 - Ja Funmi (Paul "Groucho" Smykle Remix) (7:05)
09 - Ja Funmi (Waka Version) (6:55)