There is some Yoruba oral music that is very difficult for musicians who choose it as their genre to compose for. Such music is the Yoruba indigenous music, which is mostly composed using typical proverbial words coupled with idiomatic expressions. There is a lot of such music, which are Apala, Juju, Fuji, Baalu, and some others.
It is this type of music that some non-Yoruba indigenes choose as their genre that is the purpose of this article. Thus, we will be looking at three non-Yoruba artists who sing Yoruba indigenous music and the type of music they sing:
- Sunny T Adeso̩kan:
Sunny T was an Igbo man, from the eastern part of Nigeria. He was known to have released nothing less than eight albums in the early part of the 90s.
The surprising part about Sunny T is that he chose the music genre called “Fuji” and he sings impeccably well.
He became popular with the song he called “Idan Amani,” and he was notably called “O̩mo̩ Nna To Nko̩ Fuji,” meaning an Igbo man that sings Fuji with perfection.
After Sunny T had garnered international recognition, he moved to England, before he died in the year 2012.
- Terry Apala:
Terry Apala is a Nigerian musician who sings Yoruba Apala with ecstasy. Up to this point, numerous Nigerians thought Terry Apala was a Yoruba man, but his real name is Terry Alexandra Ejeh, an Isoko man from Delta state.
He has proved himself as a lover of Apala music and therefore took an interest in it to the extent of composing the songs.
He was nominated for the best Apala artiste of the year at the City People Award in 2017.
He was nominated for Rookie artist of the Year at the Headies Awards in 2016.
At present, he is doing wonderfully well, so there is more to expect of him.
- Jesse King:
He is one of Nigeria’s most talented artists. For him to have withheld his stability through the singing of Yoruba high life music and has been given several accolades at home and abroad.
King is an Auchi-born musician but lived in Lagos. His musicals are mostly popular among the Yoruba People of Nigeria, especially Ondo state.
His debut album, which he titled “Buga”, was what introduced him to the world, and he was subsequently named after the album.