Sade Adu - Diamond Life

Born Helen Folasade Adu on 16 January 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria, her father, Adebisi Adu, was a Nigerian-born economics professor. Her mother, Anne, was a British nurse. Her parents met while Adebisi Adu was a graduate student at the London School of Economics. After marrying and having a son, the couple moved to Ibadan, where Adu had landed a teaching job. Sade--a diminutive of Folasade--was born shortly after their arrival in Nigeria.


By the time Sade was four, her parents had separated, and, in 1963, she moved with her mother and brother back to England. They lived with Sade's grandparents while her mother finished nursing school, after which they moved out on their own. The family eventually settled in a working-class town called Holland-on-Sea.

At 17, Sade left for London to study fashion and design at St. Martin's College of Art in the city's West End. Sade's entry into the music world was by chance. A popular London funk group called Pride was looking for a backup singer. She auditioned for the spot and was initially rejected, but when nobody better showed up over the next few weeks, Sade was given the job.

As a backup singer, Sade quickly developed a following of her own, and at the suggestion of Pride's manager, she and a few other members of the band worked up a set of songs to perform during Pride's between- set breaks, with Sade taking center stage. Sade and Pride saxophonist Stuart Mathewman teamed up to write several catchy songs for the splinter group, and, before long, the newly-dubbed band Sade was overshadowing Pride.

Her solo performances of the song "Smooth Operator" attracted the attention of record companies and in 1983, she signed a solo deal with Epic Records taking three members of the band, Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman, with her. Sade and her band produced the first of a string of hit albums. Their debut album Diamond Life was in 1984. She is the most successful solo female artist in British history, having sold over 110 million albums worldwide

Although the gaps between Sade's new projects seem to be widening, her voice--both as a singer and songwriter--remains a distinctive one in the pop music industry. Until a new star emerges who can out-cool Sade, her periodic reappearances are likely to be greeted with enthusiasm by her millions of fans, loyalists of the laid-back. Here is Diamond Life.........Enjoy!

Veno Marioghae - Nigeria Go Survive

Back in 1984, when Delta State indigene Veno Marioghae, one of Nigeria’s rising stars dropped her album “Nigeria Go Survive” on Tabansi Records, no one thought that 26 years Nigeria would still be struggling with Economic Woes, Tribal & Religious Conflicts and lack of/deteriorated basic amenities like unresolved Power. Everything has definitely gone down-hill since.

“Nigeria Go Survive”, a disco/pop song detailing Nigeria’s vast human and natural potentials vis a vis the troubled reality, she held strongly that Nigeria would survive the obstacles one way or another. Released in the days when the military was in power and despite the oil wealth, the economy virtually stagnated. The song was quite timely as it was released at a time when the future of Nigeria looked bleak and no one knew what the next day had in stock. With the song, Nigeria go survive, Veno calmed the nerves of many Nigerians who had given up hope on the country. The song also spoke to those who had planned to leave Nigeria, to stay behind and help build the country. It was a very big hit back in the 80s through the 90s and into the 21st Century where a 2010 version by DMSquared featuring J’odie has been released with similar ideologies.

As patriotic as the song might be, many criticized her, for being the mouth piece of the government. Some saw her as a diversion set up by the government, when there were mounting pressures on the government to better the lives of Nigerians.

She had other hit songs like “Thank You Jah” and the Isoko “Iwa Ti Yo”. She would go on to release a 2nd successful album with the hit song “Siobo Nome”. She left the music scene in the early nineties.

She is happily married with 3 children and currently works as an administrative worker in her church – Grace Assembly. She is currently working on album at her own pace and hopes to publish her written work soon.

Here is Nigeria Go Survive...............Enjoy!

Ebenezer Obey – Obey In the 60’s

Obey, whose full names are Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi, was born in Idogo, Ogun State, Nigeria. He began his professional career in the mid-1950s as a member of the Fatai Rolling-Dollar's band. He later formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlife/juju fusion. The band later metamorphosed into Inter-Reformers in the early-1970s.
Obey began experimenting with Yoruba percussion style and expanding on the band by adding more drum kits, guitars and talking drums. In an effort to rise above his competition, Obey began to develop new musical "systems," adding as many as 20 new musicians to his band at a time, extending the length of his album tracks, and pumping out hit after hit. Obeys’ musical strengths lie in weaving intricate Yoruba axioms into dance-floor compositions. Typical of Nigerian Yoruba social-circle music, the Inter-Reformers band exceled in praise-singing for rich Nigerian socialites and business tycoons.

Since the 1960s, Ebenezer Obey has been one of the most popular, prolific, and influential musicians in Nigeria, releasing over fifty albums, developing juju style, and conducting an informal and highly creative campaign against his competitors in the musical world. Though his lyrics were traditional, his musical direction was highly innovative. A stylish and bluesy guitarist whose music has been contagious in Nigeria for years, Obey is also renowned for Christian spiritual themes in his music and has since the early-1990s retired into Nigerian gospel music ministry.

No doubt my favorite musician of all time and I also dare to say that this album is on my top 2 of all time. Here is Obey in the 60’s………..Enjoy!

Taio Cruz - Rockstarr

Born Jacob Taio Cruz on 23rd April 1983, Cruz was born in London, England, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. He attended Christ's Hospital in West Sussex. He is a singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and music producer.

He is also the founder and C.E.O. of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single I Just Wanna Know.
In 2008, after years of writing songs for other artists including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Pussycat Dolls he released his debut album “Departure”. Written, arranged and produced himself, it achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In October 2009, he released his follow up album “Rokstarr” in the UK, which failed to chart as well as his debut but eventually sold a lot of copies.

He then released "Break Your Heart" as his debut US single In March 2010. Break Your Heart reached number 1 in the UK where it stayed for 8 weeks. The single spent 6 weeks in the top 10. It also reached the top spot in the U.S. for one week according to the Billboard.
Taio Cruz has writen/produced songs for many artists such as Usher, Leona Lewis, Sugababes, Cheryl Cole, Ke$ha, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Pussycat Dolls, Kylie Minogue, and Alexandra Burke. He also writes and produces all of his own work including his number 1 hit Break Your Heart'.

Here is his second album “Rockstarr” ……Enjoy!