Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister
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Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister a.k.a. "Fuji music creator," is a native of Ibadan, Nigeria. Appropriately and fondly referred to as "Mr. Fuji" by his worldwide fans, he started his music career as the lead singer of a popular were music or ajisari group, Jibowu Barrister, in Lagos, under the leadership of one Alhaji Jibowu. This group sang during the holy month of Ramadan to arouse the Islamic faithful in and around Lagos for prayers and early morning meals (saur or sari).
The were music or ajisari genre was popularized by other Ibadan singers/songwriters such as, the late Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara and Ganiyu Kuti or Gani Irefin, but most especially by Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara. The music quickly found its way into the mainstream Yoruba culture (since a substantial number of Yoruba are Muslims, anyway). The were music or ajisari singers started playing at parties and concerts in Ibadan. Ultimately both the late Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara and Ganiyu Kuti dropped a number of hit tracks on Short-Play records. A bitter rivalry quickly ensued between the two crooners, but it was not long before Ganiyu Kuti was musically subdued and creatively rendered irrelevant. Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara then moved on to producing LP records. At the same time, another talented were music or ajisari musician, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, started producing LP records in Lagos, but most Yoruba (especially the very important Ibadan) music lovers had never heard of his name. In fact, it was Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara who first introduced him, musically, to the people of Ibadan in one of his popular LPs in which he, Epo-Akara, paid a professional homage to the influential community of record retailers of Ogunpa in Ibadan. Although the were music or ajisari genre enjoyed a tremendous popularity among the Yoruba of Nigeria, a Westernized cabal in Nigeria still contemptuously looked down on its singers, calling them illiterates.
Struggling to modernize the were music or ajisari genre, which was derisively considered a "local music" by the students and educated elites of Nigeria, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister created a new style of music called Fuji. In one of his popular LPs, "Fuji Reggae Series II," which he used to chide critics for tagging his music local and un-civilized, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister asked, rhetorically, "Who can tell me the full meaning of Fuji [music]?" He then explained that it '...is a combination of... apala, sakara, agogo, gudugudu, agidigbo, aro, highlife and etc.' The name for this new style of music was conceived in a rather funny way. Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister once said that he chose the name when he saw a poster ad. of Japan's highest peak, the Mount Fuji, at an international airport. In 1980, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister released an LP, "Oke Agba," which became an instant hit. Edging out popular genres like Juju music, and smashing the Nigerian music charts within months, "Oke Agba" went platinum. This made both the genre and its creator, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, to become very popular nationwide even among their most virulent of critics, the students and the educated elites. Today, this LP record, "Oke Agba," has become a classic.
