Top 5 Fuji Musicians in Nigeria

Fuji music is one of the popular music genres in Nigeria, an infusion of apala, juju, Sakara, afrobeat, and types of Nigerian-initiated beats. Fuji itself has had a life span of over 50 years and more, but as it grows, the growth of the genre has been attached to some prominent Nigerian musicians who made fuji the kind of music they are known for. Let's take a look at 5 top Fuji musicians who made fuji what it is Today. 

1) Ayinde Barrister: If anyone will be named the father of fuji music in Nigeria, Late pa Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, should be the one to get the title, even after his death. Ayinde began singing in the early 60s, but got his first signing in the early 70s, after being signed to The Nigerian-based African Songs, Ltd, Ayinde released several amazing songs for the next decade. Although the most popular genre then was the likes of juju and Sakara, Ayinde popularized Fuji with his talent and recognized the beat in his 1974 album titled "Alayinde Ki Yin", After this album, fuji became a stand-alone genre, which the majority loved. 

2) Kollington Ayinla: Being close friends with Ayinde Barrister, Kollington Ayinla is also one of the Fuji musicians that made the genre what it is today, he began singing in the year 1965 at the age of 12, he got signed into the record label  EMI in the year 1974 as at the time he got in, he was 21 years of age. His record contract lasted 5 years. Setting an amazing music record, Ayinla released about 50 albums during his 5-year contract with EMI. In his whole musical career, he released about 70 albums. As a particular Fuji musician, 60% of Ayinla's songs were of the Fuji genre. 

3) Wasiu Ayinde: AKA, Kwam 1, or K1 d Ultimate, is still one of the most prominent fuji musicians in Nigeria, he is popularly known as Sikiru Ayindae's apprentice, as he drew most of his inspiration and musical drive from the late legend. Singing right from the age of 8, Wasiu quickly found his calling in the music industry. At the age of 15, he Joined Sikiru Ayinde's band till he was over the age of 18, after which he released his own album titled Iba. as a fuji musician, Wasiu excelled phenomenally, shooting into stardom, he released an album, titled "Abo Mecca", which became his first widely accepted album.  From Abo Mecca, many other albums and singles came from Wasiu which many welcomed with opened arms, one of the most recent is the song titled "Ade Ori Okin".

4) Adewale Ayuba: Ayuba is one of the musicians who popularized fuji music in the late 80s towards the early 90. He became popular for his singing talent before the age of 7, he began his own music band (fuji concentrated) when he was still in primary school, already making money off the industry. By the time Ayuba finished his secondary school education, he was already a professional musician. He released about five albums that were fuji infused between 1985 -1990 before he moved abroad to continue his education. Although his time in the industry was short, as the artist has focused more on business now, during his time in the industry, Ayuba won about 12 awards for amazing work in music and fuji.

5) Wasiu Alabi Pasuma: Pasuma is still hitting the streets strong as a fuji musician. Once inspired by Wasiu Ayinde Marshall's "Talazo 84" when he was younger, Pasuma believed if one can create such an amazing album as Ayinde did, then he too could do it. inspiration mixed with passion, Pasuma fought all odds to release his first album in the year 1993. With his background from the streets of Mushin and his musical creativity added to the fuji genre, Pasuma took the Nigerian music world by storm. He grew with the fuji genre, exploring many parts of the genre creatively and as a result, became internationally recognized, as Fuji itself.

The likes of our Top 5 Fuji Musicians have shown that even locally created beats can become something widely and internationally accepted. This means it doesn't matter what you can creatively create locally, once it gets to the international sphere, will be well accepted, we are Nigerians, creativity is in our blood. 

Writer: Idowu Elizabeth
Editor (s): Idowu Elizabeth & Awe Olufunso
Publisher: Awe Olufunso