By Gbolayemi Ogunseye
‘Super jet o se to’gbolorin de, super jet o se to gbolorin de, eni tati n reti tipe ni, Soko Express to n fun won lodu t’aiye nfe, Kujore kaabo so’ri eto yi’
Thanks a lot Super jet for bringing in the Musician, the person we have been waiting for, for some time, the Soko Express crooner who is dishing out what the world has been craving for, Kujore welcome to the platform.
And with that album Dayo ‘Wonder’ Kujore entered into some of us consciousness.
Before Dayo went on his own he was a band member of General Prince Adekunle.
Incidentally, one of his mates at General Prince Adekunle had just scattered the Nigeria music scene with an earth shattering album called “Ace”, the flagship of Afro-Juju by the maestro called Sir Shina Peters, an enigmatic and exhilarating performer.
The third of the famous trio who had their tutelage under late General Prince Adekunle is Segun Adewale. I havd the opportunity of rocking in too at Magenta Hotel way back then with my gees.
All these guys were simply fantastic in their own unique way.
I was raving mad for Sir Shina Peters yet I was in love with the solemn and Solomonic-wisdom lyrics of Dayo Kujore.
Whence Shina Peters was high octane, Dayo Kujore was the blue flames that genially cook you up from within.
They became each other ying-yang which is the common binary incredulity of Nigeria music scene.
At every point, every level of every genre in Nigeria musical scene there is always a rivalry that electrifies the stage, the fans and the airwaves to fever pitch level.
Just like Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey Commander, like late Ayinde Barrister and Kollington Ayinla, so also with Admiral Dele Abiodun and Emperor Pick Peters and so on.
There is always the ying to the yang of any musician of note in the country.
These rivalries of course bring out the best in the musicians to the thrilling enjoyment of the fans and the public space.
My taste in music is eclectic.
I am a fan of all good music apart from classical ones.
I still cannot understand the ups and downs of alto jamming tenor, tenor riding bass and bass underlining soprano and soprano bossing contralto.
Despite the waves making albums of Sir Shina Peters, Dayo Kujore albums stood out for success, recognition and followership.
I am an addicted fan of Dayo till tomorrow.
Some years back I realized with horror that I had no Dayo Kujore in my collections I had to rush and commission a Dj to do a recording of all available Soko Express for me.
This collection I relish and cherish.
Unfortunately it is sad the way Nigeria music are been forgotten for the newer ones.
Good thing though is that it tells a lot about the quality and the abundance of talents that we have in the country but then we need to preserve the old ones from been lost to the jungle of history.
We need to create a musical library either virtual or physical where songs and music are stored for references, future and posterity.
Music is a good milestone for historical and narrative references.
Good night Dayo Kujore who made us happy in his short but eventful stay on this divide.
“Easy life baby, baby rock mi well well, easy life bobo o bobo rock mi jeje, mo n jaiye ori mi rekereke…”
***Ad vitam aeternam…
RIP Chief Earnest Shonekan (The 9th President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria)
RIP Uncle Tunji Aderoju (Owner and Founder Best Options Petrol)
A Very Good Egbon and A Jolly Good Fellow
