Omo Ode De (The Hunter's Son Has Come), released in 1975 by Emperor Pick Peters on African Songs Ltd, was the first in a barrage of jùjú (a style of Nigerian popular music derived from traditional Yoruba percussion) records bearing similar titles. Soon to follow was Admiral Dele Abiodun's Omo Ode Da (Where Is The Hunter's Son?) and then King Sunny Ade's classic E Kilo F'Omode (Warn The Hunter's Son). The creative jousting with the varied titles resulted in a law suit that was initiated by Emperor Pick Peters' record label.
Years later, King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey sat down and discussed this matter after it was all said and done. Their incorporation of other musical styles such as funk, reggae and Afrobeat had helped establish a new genre of music known as Yo-Pop. What was the conclusion they drew on this healthy form of competition between musicians?
King Sunny Ade: "Who benefited from all this: me, you, the record companies or the fans?... The record companies had hundred percent benefit. If we (the musicians) had been given our dues, we would have benefited, but we were not."
To buy the higher quality CD release of the album with additional tracks added as a bonus, see Dusty Groove America's website.
To learn more about jùjú, seek out the book Juju: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music by Christopher Alan Waterman.
There's also a decent Nigerian music blog out there called Naija Jams.
2 comments:
Thank you for posting music by Emperor Pick Peters. He is a little know Nigerian great who deserves more exposure. I tried to download but the link is no longer active. I went to Dusty Grooves to buy the CD but it is out of stock. Is there any way that you could re-upload this album? Thanks.
Cole
I've just found the blog now, and like groovemonster was not able to dl or find the recording at Dusty Groove. They did carry Nigerian Cds for a short while, bu no loner seem to be stocking them.
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