| | Lagbaja
Label: Blue Pie Productions
Artists Genre: Urban
Lagbaja is an MGN Productions Nigeria, Blue Pie and
Perfect Pitch artist. Lagbaja is out now on Blue Pie
and available at all leading digital retailers on the
planet
Who is Lagbaja ?
The first question that is often asked when Lagbaja is
encountered is, “Why the mask?” Basically, Lagbaja’s
mask is used as an icon of man’s facelessness.
Lagbaja is a Yoruba word that means somebody, nobody,
anybody or everybody. It perfectly depicts the
anonymity of the so called “common man”. The mask and
the name symbolize the faceless, the voiceless in the
society, particularly in Africa. Once you see
Lagbaja’s mask you are reminded of your own
facelessness. This symbolism is so powerful that
Lagbaja’s mask has popularized the use of the mask
concept by other artistes both in Nigeria and beyond.
Though the concept was developed long before that, his
first album (entitled Lagbaja) was released to
National acclaim in 1993. Over the years and more
albums later, the music continues to fascinate with
its unique focus on a core of African drums. His music
is a product of various influences ranging from
traditional Yoruba music to Jazz. Often the music is
purely instrumental- an interplay between traditional
Yoruba percussions, drums, chants, and western
instruments, especially the saxophone. When there are
lyrics, they are primarily sung in Yoruba, English or
a blend of the two as is colloquially spoken in Yoruba
cities. Many of his songs dwell on serious social
issues, while others simply entertain. Some are dance
inducing while others pass serious messages in
humourous ways.
One thing that links all the songs together is his use
of traditional African drums. Traditional Yoruba drums
are the most prominent. Four families of these drums
are employed in creating different grooves and moods.
The dundun/gangan family is the most prominent and at
times up to five drummers combine all the various
components to create the polyrhythms. The bata
ensemble is led by two musicians who alternate between
soft high toned driving rhythms with their omele bata,
and thunderous loud talk with their mum drum- iya ilu.
The general percussionist leads the sakara ensemble.
The fourth family, used as the backbone of the groove
is the ogido, a derivative of the ancient gbedu. The
ensemble of drummers constitute the larger part of the
band. Vocalists and western instrumentalists make up
the rest. Lagbaja’s groovy fusion has been refered to
as afrojazz, afrobeat, higherlife and afropop until
now that he himself has christened the music AFRICANO,
alluding mostly to the central role of African drums
and grooves in his music.
In March 1997, Lagbaja established his club,
Motherlan’ in the heart of Ikeja in Lagos. Motherlan’s
design is influenced by the traditional African town
or market square, where people gather under the
moonlight for ceremonies and artistic events like
dance, music, story telling, wrestling etc. True to
this function, over the years, it has become a place
for many comedians to polish their act in front of a
demanding audience.
With a serene gorge of beautiful trees and greens as
background, the venue merges traditional Africa with
the contemporary, creating the ambience of the
countryside in the urban city. Lagbaja performs at
Motherlan’ every last Friday of the month to a full
house of faithfuls.
Lagbaja is fast emerging in the forefront of
contemporary African music, rich in the traditions of
the continent while cosmopolitan in attitude. He has
started to take his music beyond the shores of
Nigeria, performing in festivals and venues around the
world.
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ABOUT LAGBAJA
The simplest idea, rooted in another culture is
sometimes a challenge to translate in all its potency.
Such is the case with Lágbájá. In the Yoruba language,
Lágbájá means variously, somebody, anybody, everybody
and nobody, in particular. It is a specific reference
to the identity-less. In this lies its power. For
Lágbájá wears a mask to obscure his identity and sings
on behalf of Africa's faceless masses. It is the words
and the concepts rather than an individual identity or
personality, which rise to supreme importance in this
music. Always performing in a mask, identity obscured
from the audience, Lágbájá is as much metaphor as
personality.
Lágbájá arose from Lagos, the same gritty urban
commercial capital of 15+ million Nigerians, which
gave us Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Oliver deCoque,
Barrister and numerous other seminal African
musicians. Like these many predecessors, Lágbájá is a
product of that urban environment and the spirit of
his times. First emerging in the wake of the annulled
Nigerian presidential elections of 1993, which
ultimately swept Dictator Sanni Abacha into power:
this was a dark time in Nigeria. It was a time where
people literally feared to speak their mind in public
or private, where killings and disappearances became
commonplace and where the common people had no one to
take up their cause. Into this darkness came Lágbájá,
speaking words of wisdom to the masses. Less
confrontational than the words of the late Fela Kuti
and more direct than the proverb and metaphorically
based messages of King Sunny Ade, Lágbájá posed a
model for how to rebuild a better society and to renew
Nigeria. The message resonated with the masses, both
because of its simple truth and because of the medium.
For Lágbájá's anonymity and elaborate costumes also
invoke the ancient tradition of Yoruba Egungun
(ancestral) masquerades.
In Yoruba cosmology, the wise spirits of the deceased
and other unworldly beings serve a role of
intermediary between God and humanity. Such spirits
are seen as closer to God and therefore able to act as
an effective go between for humanity and their
creator. Periodically they manifest themselves as
physical beings in the form of Masquerades, where
their words and actions impart wisdom, which is
considered to have emanated from a higher source. In
particular such Egungun or masquerades are known to
manifest in times of critical social challenge. In
many ways, Lágbájá carries this tradition into the
modern world. Emerging from a time of social
challenge, he brings words of wisdom to the people.
The absence of a personality forces his audience to
focus on the message and gives the words greater
power. On deeper look, the lyrics carry powerful
messages in a variety of voices familiar to Nigerians.
A part of Lágbájá's brilliance is in the creation of a
wide range of cultural caricatures, which are put
forth through song to convey a message: the habitual
liar, the sugar daddy, the cynical old man and the
gossip. As such caricatures have been used throughout
traditional Yoruba performance culture to speak about
undesirable social habits or to point the way towards
a more equitable society, Lágbájá develops these
characters to talk about the vast problems facing
Nigerians today. How can we face the challenges of
rebuilding democracy? How can the youth rise up to be
a stronger generation than their forebears? How can we
stop this petty fighting amongst us and see that we
are all struggling together?
Lágbájá's music has many levels of depth and appeal.
On the simplest level, the music features catchy
refrains and great arrangements with instant appeal.
His unique ensemble contains half western instruments
and half traditional Yoruba instruments. Wireless
guitars, bass, sax and keyboards and samplers are
matched by dundun and sacred bata drums, sekere, akuba
and many other classical Yoruba instruments for a
sound which is at once poppy and ancient. Drawing on a
wide range of influences from traditional rhythms to
juju, afrobeat, fuji, pop, jazz, rock and more, the
music speaks to a wide audience. Remarkably, in its
specificity towards a local audience, Lágbájá's words
and music speak universally about the challenges that
face us all. There's also a lighter side. Such songs
as "Feyin E" (smile) and "Konko Below" (meet me down
there, sometimes misspelled "Koko Below") are just
simple dance fun, celebrating the need to remember
life's simple pleasures.
Since 1993 Lágbájá has grown in popularity to become
one of Nigeria's top artists. In 1996, Lágbájá's C'est
Une African Thing, became Nigeria's most popular album
of the year. Anthems such as "Coolu Temper" and "Bad
Leadership" provided powerful messages to a popular
and danceable beat. Lágbájá swept the country and
jammed the airwaves like a new craze.
In 1996, Lágbájá was a featured artist in the
International Red Cross sponsored campaign called
"WOZA AFRICA," attempting to draw world attention to
the plight of "child soldiers" in African conflict
zones. The campaign featuring Papa Wemba (D.R. Congo),
Lucky Dube (South Africa), Youssou N'Dour (Senegal),
Lourdes Van-Dunem (Angola) and Jabu Khanyile (South
Africa) and Lágbájá, toured to major African trouble
spots and culminated with a live concert in Paris. The
resulting documentary book sports a powerful picture
of Lágbájá as its cover image.
Come 1997, Lagbaja opened Motherlan' in Lagos, where
he performs the last Friday of each month to this day.
Lágbájá also performs at a wide variety of concerts
and events in Nigeria where he is one of the country's
most popular performers. In concert, Lágbájá, who
provides lead vocals, saxophone and occasional bass
lines, fronts a virtuoso ensemble of jazz musicians
grounded by the heavy rhythms of the traditional
Yoruba drummers. Musical and visual depth is added by
female harmonies that provide a striking counterpoint
to Lágbájá's powerful stage presence. Visually
stunning, with engaging stage routines, a night with
Lágbájá transforms any venue into a piece of Africa.
In 2000, Lágbájá released three CDs in Nigeria, WE, ME
and ABAMI. The trilogy of albums was compelling
individually, while working together as a thematic
set. Their massive popularity, paired with Lágbájá's
growing impact as an artist, led him to win six
national Nigerian music awards in February of 2001,
including "Artist of the Year," "Producer of the
Year," and "Album of the Year."
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