Jùjú music
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Jùjú is a style of Yoruba popular music, originated in Lagos, Nigeria.[1] It first appeared in the 1920s, and Tunde King (Abdulrafiu Babatunde King) was the first artist of jùjú music.[2] Early styles of jùjú music consisted of banjo or acoustic guitar, drums, gourd rattle, tambourine, and vocals.[2] Call-and-response singing is common in jùjú music along with harmonies, repetitive refrains, and polyrhythmic percussion.[2] Other musical elements like improvisation and expressive vocal styles are often found.[1] Although jùjú music was in its early development in the 1920s, the jùjú music genre did not emerge until the mid-1930s.[1] Jùjú music emerged in Lagos in 1932, and was influenced by palm wine guitar music.[3] Jùjú was also strongly influenced by Asikò dance drumming, which is tied to Yoruba Christian communities.[3] Some lyrical content and themes are praise singing and storytelling, reflecting themes such as identity, community, life, spiritual beliefs and social commentary.[1] Jùjú performances often lasted hours without any breaks.[4] Band often had a repertoire that they could play from memory.[4] The bandleader had the responsibility of evaluating the crowd at the social event and adjust their performance according to their preferences.[4]
History
[edit]When jùjú music was first developing, groups often formed as trios.[4] This included a bandleader who sang and played the banjo, a tambourine player, and a sèkèrè player (gourd rattle).[4] Sometimes a fourth person would be added as a supporting vocalist.[4] By the end of World War II, jùjú bands were mostly quartets.[4] In the early days of jùjú music instruments would include acoustic guitar, banjo, drums, gourd rattle, tambourine and vocals.[2] After World War II, musicians started to form competing bands, which incorporated new instruments and regional styles.[1] Some of these instruments included electric guitars, synthesizers, pedal steel guitar, and sometimes saxophones.[2] Talking drums are also found in jùjú music, but were not introduced to the genre until 1948.[3] Other instruments like the thumb piano, various conga-type drums and Hawaiian guitar emerged into the genre as well.[3] The later adoption of electric amplifiers allowed for larger jùjú ensembles.[3] Traditional African popular music is categorized into two types, one for dancing, and one for individual expression.[1] Jùjú music however mixes the two styles to create a unique genre.[1] Jùjú music was and is used for expressing cultural identity in Nigeria, especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s after the Second World War when Nigeria became independent from the United Kingdom.[2] This is when nationalism was at its highest in the country.[2]
There were three musical influences that helped shape Tunde King’s creation of jùjú music.[5] One key influence was the tambourine drum, which was introduced to Lagos in 1920 by the The Salvation Army.[5] It had the ability to mimic speech in interactive musical settings.[5] The tambourine was locally known as “eight corners,” and was also believed to elevate mental and spiritual awareness.[5] Because of this mystical association, people from Lagos began calling the music “jùjú”, which was a colonial term for African spiritual practices.[5] The second key influence was samba music from the Brazilian community in Lagos, which was associated with the carata masquerade.[5] Samba has a steady two-beat pulse which matched jùjú’s duple rhythmic structure, where syncopated melodies were layered over percussion patterns and steady guitar.[5] The third influence came from Kru sailors from Liberia, whose folk songs (often call-and-response style) and two-finger guitar technique called “Krusbass” inspired the harmonic foundation of jùjú.[5] This evolved into a standard tuning progression called “Johnny Walker is a Mighty Man,” which became central to Tunde King’s compositions.[5]
Competition from fuji music led to the decline of jùjú in the 1980s.[3] Although jùjú music still remained popular, it faced increased competition from newer genres.[3] Another name for jùjú music that was considered more performative as called "Tombo bar music".[4] Most jùjú groups remained semi-professional, which allowed them to make a second income.[4] There were higher status and lower status ensembles of jùjú music that reflected its diverse audience including civil servants, artisans and daily paid labourers.[4] The most successful jùjú groups are based in Lagos, which is Nigeria's modern and cultural capital, and Ibadan plays a secondary role as a supporting hub for the popular music scene.[6] Modern jùjú music, by artists such as Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Adé, reflects the influence of modernization and cultural blending.[6] However, it still strongly holds traditional Yoruba music styles and social values.[6] Jùjú began among the lower class in Yoruba cities, but with the help of recordings, it has grown in popularity, crossing social boundaries and reaching people of different religions, ages and backgrounds.[6]
Tunde King's Influence on Jùjú Music
[edit]Tunde King (Abdulrafiu Babatunde King) was the first artist of jùjú music in the 1920s.[2] He was a guitarist from Lagos, Nigeria.[4] Tunde King began by playing and improvising Asiko music and folk songs during social gatherings with the "Area Boys" in Olowogbowo as a trio.[1] His music would mix Asiko rhythms and social commentary, and use the two-finger guitar style known as "krusbass".[1] He was known to have a high vocal register, and in the traditional norms of Yoruba music a high value is placed on the upper male voice.[4] Some other musical elements he incorporated were christian hymns in vocal melodies, Asiko drumming, and Ijinle Yoruba poetic rhetoric.[4] At the time musicians were not considered to have a respectable profession in traditional Yoruba society.[1] Tunde King often would play music with his face covered by a cap to maintain a level of anonymity and to avoid social stigma.[1] He would perform usually during late-evening sessions at family compounds and never on the streets.[1]
Tunde King and his group were also the first jùjú musicians to be recorded in 1936, by Parlophone record label.[4] Tunde King said that he was recommended to have his songs recorded by influential patrons, and only a select few groups who had strong ties to the African elites had access to record their songs.[4] The elites were the ones who could by gramophones to listen to recorded music at the time, which would increase the popularity of the musicians they would listen to, and give them more live performance opportunities.[4] The few jùjú bands that are widely known across Nigeria or other specific regions usually gain recognition from performing at high-profile events and celebrations of the elites.[6] Tunde King talked about how his earnings from recording were minuscule compared to his earnings from live performances.[4] Musicians who did not have the opportunity to record were trapped in a cycle of no elite contacts, no recordings, and no chance for upward mobility.[4] Tunde King's group laid the foundation for what would later evolve into jùjú music.[1] They blended Asiko rhythms, socially reflective themes and some western instruments, making a significant impact on Nigerian music history.[1]
Performance venue
[edit]Jùjú music is performed primarily by artists from the southwestern region of Nigeria, where the Yoruba are the most numerous ethnic group.[7] In performance, audience members commonly shower jùjú musicians with money, this tradition is known as "spraying".[4] The tradition of "spraying" involves a pleased recipient dancing toward the bandleader or another musician and attaching money to the sweat on their forehead.[6] The band manager will then go around collect the money and place it in a cardboard box on the bandstand.[6] This commonly serves as a primary source of income for musicians.[4] Some other sources of income include cash advances and record royalties.[4] Performances of jùjú music often alternate between concerted choral and call-and-response singing.[4] The three main contexts for jùjú music in the 1930s/1940s were parlour parties, urban bars, and neotraditional ceremonies.[4] Other performance venues include house parties, naming ceremonies, weddings, and wakes.[4]
Music researcher Christpher Alan Waterman said that one of the centres for the performance of jùjú music is in Ibadan, Nigeria.[8] Most jùjú musicians are based in the zone of market forces.[8] There are several contexts in which jùjú music is performed, such as hotels, nightclubs, and universities.[8] Most activity takes place after nine p.m., and the hotels are the center of Ibadan's economic structure.[8] Jùjú performances often lasted for hours without any breaks and there were often competitions between local groups.[4] Bands often had a large repertoire of songs that they would play from memory.[4] The bandleader of the group was responsible for evaluating how the crowd was feeling and adjusting their performance to what the audience enjoys.[4] They also must have knowledge about the life histories and traditional verbal genres of the participants in any ceremony that they play at.[6] The bandleader would signal the band to change course using different signals such as verbal phrases, changes in melodic patterns on the banjo, and by using drums as surrogate speech (imitating tones) to comment on the performance.[4] Also, on and off the stage the bandleader should be energetic, dignified and generous and if an argument were to break out among celebrants he should be able to mediate it effectively.[6] The bandleader should have a clear and strong voice and they are ultimately responsible wherever the band plays and whether the event was a success or failure.[6] Tunde King talked about how his band was sometimes asked to play all night, and he was able to play for four hours at a time without stopping.[4] Jùjú bands also dress colourfully and neatly, and usually have a good sound system so that the drumming and praise lyrics can be heard clealy by everyone.[6]
There was a nocturnal sub-culture that developed in Lagos, where jùjú music would be played and performed mostly during the night, and even the most successful jùjú musicians often had an ambiguous status.[4] The nighttime was known to be a time uncertainty in Yoruba traditions.[4] Spirits and witches were known to be most active at night, respectable families would tightly shutter their houses.[4] Many musicians would tell stories of strange things happening on their way to or from nocturnal performances.[4] Jùjú artist Tunde King even wrote some lyrics talking about the night. Musicians would also use their cigarette smoke to make a protective aura.[4]
Another context in which jùjú music is played is at celebrations called àríyá.[9] For example, one jùjú artist named King Sunny Adé performed at àríyá with his socio aesthetics.[9] These celebrations are parties which celebrate the naming of a baby, weddings, birthdays, funerals, title-taking, ceremonies and the launching of new property or business enterprises.[9] Live music is crucial to the proper functioning of an àríyá.[9]
Aesthetic
[edit]
The musical elements of jùjú music include its rhythmic foundations, and you will often hear complex rhythms like polyrhythms.[1] Percussion instruments include the jùjú drum (tambourine), talking drum (gangan), sèkèrè (gourd rattle), agidigbo (type of xylophone) and guitar (plays both lead and rhythm roles).[1] Melodic and harmonic elements include a call-and-response structure, improvisation, guitar and harmony and expressive vocal style.[1] Early styles of jùjú consisted of acoustic guitar or banjo, drums, sèkèrè (gourd rattle), tambourine, vocals (call and response, harmonies, repetitive refrain).[2] Modern jùjú still consists of the basic structure but polyrhythmic percussion is more of an essential element now as well as other instruments and electric instruments such as, electric guitars, synthesizers, pedal steel guitars, talking drums, and sometimes saxophones.[2]
Jùjú music can be influenced by different musical genres such as rock, funk and reggae.[2] Early jùjú music usually had a tempo between 130bpm and 150bpm, which was considered fast for most traditional Yoruba social dance drumming at the time.[4] Melodies were mostly diatonic and harmonized in parallel thirds, which is common in Christian musical practice.[4] Jùjú was usually organized by a I-IV-V7 pattern, and early jùjú harmonic structure was A-B-A and A-A-B-A, which was known as the "Johnny Walker".[4] Male voices having a high register was placed at a high value and voices were usually slightly nasalized and barley had any vibrato.[4] Often times the banjo would also be used to foreshadow melodies of following vocals.[4]
Lyrical Content
[edit]Lyrical content and themes include, praise singing, storytelling, and reflecting themes such as identity, community, life, spiritual beliefs, and social commentary.[1] Jùjú praise lyrics often draw from traditional sources, like Yoruba proverbs and praise names (known as oríkì).[6] These praise lyrics are usually aimed at an important person at the event, often the host who would have hired the band.[6] The bandleader will sing the main melody, adding personal details about the person that is being praised.[6] These solo lines will alternate will short call-and-response sections sung with the chorus.[6] The talking drum also plays an important role by echoing phrases of praise and proverbs, adding rhythmic patterns that reflect the social atmosphere.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Alaja-Browne, Afolabi (1989). "The Origin and Development of JuJu Music". The Black Perspective in Music. 17 (1/2): 55. doi:10.2307/1214743.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Miller, Terry E.; Shahriari, Andrew (2020-10-20), "World Music: A Global Journey", World Music, Fifth edition. | New York : Routledge, 2020.: Routledge, pp. 300–318, ISBN 978-0-367-82349-8, retrieved 2025-03-08
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ a b c d e f g Waterman, Christopher (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 1. Routledge. pp. 471–487.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Waterman, Christopher A. (1990). Jùjú: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 55–81.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Alaja-Browne, Afolabi (1989). "A Diachronic Study of Change in Juju Music". Popular Music. 8 (3): 231–242. ISSN 0261-1430.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Waterman, Christopher A. (1982). ""I'm a Leader, Not a Boss": Social Identity and Popular Music in Ibadan, Nigeria". Ethnomusicology. 26 (1): 59–71. doi:10.2307/851402. ISSN 0014-1836.
- ^ Valdés, Vanessa K. (2015). "Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks". Callaloo. 38: 234–237. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0025. S2CID 143058809.
- ^ a b c d Juju, Christpher A. Waterman Retrieved 26 December 2020
- ^ a b c d King Sunny Ade ariya Retrieved 26 January 2021
External links
[edit]- King Sunny Ade interview by Jason Gross from Perfect Sound Forever site (June 1998)
- "Sparkling Prince of Juju Music Called Ludare", Thisday, October 2016
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