Sikiru Ayinde Barrister

Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, MON, a.k.a., "Fuji Creator," is a native of Ibadan, the largest city in both Nigeria and Africa. Born in 1948, he is 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 Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara and Ganiyu Kuti or Gani Irefin, but most especially by Epo-Akara. The music quickly found its way into the mainstream Yoruba culture (since a significant 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. Epo-Akara then moved on to producing LP records. At the same time, another talented were musician or ajisari singer, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, started producing LP records in Lagos, but most Yoruba music lovers had never heard of his name. In fact, it was Epo-Akara who first introduced him, musically, to the people of Ibadan on one of his popular LPs, which he used to pay a professional homage to the powerful record marketers of Ogunpa in Ibadan.

Struggling to modernize the were music or ajisari genre, which was derisively considered a "local music" by the students and educated elites of Nigeria, 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.' Barrister once said that he chose the name for the musical genre when he saw a poster advertising Japan's highest peak, 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.

Still, the criticisms continued. Barrister responded by naming three of his albums "Fertiliser", "Fuji Garbage" and "Refined Fuji Garbage". These albums saw European release via the Globestyle label.

Discography

* [http://biochem.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~endo/EASikiru.html Definitive Compilation of Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister's Discography by Toshiya Endo] .
* [http://www.afromix.org/html/musique/artistes/alhaji_sikiru_ayinde_barrister/index.en.html Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister's Incomplete Discography at AfroMix -- (with some album covers)] .