Fuji music is one of Nigeria’s most distinctive indigenous genres. It developed in the late 1960s from Wéré (or Ajísàrí), Islamic devotional chants performed by Yoruba youths during Ramadan to awaken the faithful before dawn. As Lagos expanded and radio spread after independence, the devotional practice began fusing with secular percussion, dundun and gángan talking drums, and call-and-response vocals.
The transformation from Wéré to Fuji coincided with Nigeria’s social transition from colonial rule to self-rule, when Yoruba creativity increasingly combined spirituality, humour and social commentary.
Sikiru Ayinde Barrister (1948–2010): The Father of Fuji
Sikiru Ololade Ayinde Balogun, later known worldwide as Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, was born on 9 February 1948 in Ilaro, Ogun State, though some early profiles mention Ibadan. He began performing publicly as a Wéré singer in the mid-1960s, entertaining Muslim communities in Lagos and Ogun.
By the early 1970s, Barrister had developed a new musical identity that merged Yoruba rhythm and Islamic chanting into a modern performance style. He named it Fuji, explaining that he drew inspiration from Japan’s Mount Fuji, a metaphor for greatness and elevation.
Barrister’s innovation lay in expanding Wéré beyond religious boundaries: he added layered percussion, harmony vocals and extended narratives about morality, family, and civic duty. Over a career spanning four decades, he recorded more than seventy albums. Landmark releases such as Fuji Garbage (1982), Reality, Precaution and Wisdom combined social messages with the celebratory energy of Yoruba popular music.
Although several biographies note that he served briefly in the Nigerian Army, probably as a clerk during the Civil War period, documentation remains oral; official army archives have not been published. What is certain is that his military discipline influenced the organisation of his band, popularly known as the Supreme Fuji Commanders, a large ensemble of drummers, backup singers and instrumentalists.
Barrister’s performances were moral theatre as much as music: he urged reconciliation, honesty, and education. His poetic mastery of Yoruba proverbs and Islamic phrases elevated Fuji from street corners to concert halls. When he died on 16 December 2010 in , tributes across Nigeria hailed him as the uncontested Father of Fuji, a title affirmeLondond by later stars such as Pasuma Wonder and Saheed Osupa.
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Abass Akande Obesere (b. 1965): The Street Reformer
Born on 20 January 1965 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Abass Akande Obesere inherited Barrister’s groundwork but re-engineered it for an urban generation. Rising in the late 1980s and flourishing through the 1990s, Obesere, nicknamed Omo Rapala and Papa Tosibe, injected Fuji with Lagos street slang, satire and risqué humour.
His lyrics employed “asàkàsà,” a coded Yoruba street idiom that mixed double meanings and social wit. Though conservative audiences criticised its erotic undertones, his wit and fearless spontaneity earned him immense popularity.
Albums such as Asakasa, Omo Rapala Ti Sete, and Mr Teacher broadened Fuji’s appeal beyond traditional fans, pushing it into clubs and video channels once dominated by Juju and early Afro-pop. His flamboyant performances, quick-fire praise-singing, humour and audience improvisation, turned him into the genre’s rebel moderniser.
Today, Obesere continues to perform internationally and remains a living bridge between Barrister’s disciplined spirituality and the expressive freedom of contemporary Yoruba youth culture.
Yemi Ayebo: Film, Not Fuji
In many online “throwback” posts, Yemi Ayebo appears beside Fuji greats. Yet historical accuracy places him in cinema, not in Fuji’s musical lineage.
Popularly called Yemi My Lover, after his 1993 Yoruba film of the same name, Ayebo built a career as an actor, director and producer. His work blended music, folklore and moral storytelling, mirroring the narrative structure that also animates Fuji lyrics. While he occasionally incorporated musical scenes into his films, no credible record identifies him as a professional Fuji musician.
In interviews with Nigerian media, Ayebo has described how the fame of Yemi My Lover was not matched by financial reward, citing piracy and weak royalties as obstacles. His story nonetheless belongs to the broader Yoruba creative industry that shares artistic DNA with Fuji, improvisation, humour and communal commentary, but not its musical authorship.
Shared Legacy: Yoruba Creativity Without Borders
The confirmed record identifies Barrister as Fuji’s originator and Obesere as its radical urban interpreter, while Ayebo represents the filmic storytelling tradition running parallel to Fuji’s musical one. Together they reflect the Yoruba cultural ecosystem where rhythm, language and narrative continually intersect.
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Fuji’s growth from dawn devotionals to international concerts mirrors Nigeria’s post-independence evolution, spiritual at heart, cosmopolitan in expression. Contemporary artists such as Saheed Osupa, K1 De Ultimate, Pasuma Wonder, and KS1 Malaika build on Barrister’s foundation and Obesere’s flamboyance, adapting Fuji’s percussion and oriki praise-poetry to the digital age.
Author’s Note
Across generations, Fuji endures as both music and social commentary, chronicling Yoruba life, migration, faith and aspiration. Barrister’s disciplined innovation, Obesere’s fearless slang, and Ayebo’s cinematic humour all express one cultural constant: the Yoruba drive to educate and entertain simultaneously.
References
Ayinde Barrister – Biography and Career Overview, Wikipedia, accessed Oct 2025.
Fuji Music – Origins and Development, Wikipedia, updated 2024.
Abass Akande Obesere – Profile, Wikipedia, accessed Oct 2025.
How “Yemi My Lover” Made Me Famous but Broke Me – Interview with Yemi Ayebo, Premium Times Nigeria, May 2025.
Remembering Sikiru Ayinde Barrister (1948–2010), Punch Nigeria, Dec 2016.
