Edo Funk Explosion Vol 1

Much of the music emanating from Nigeria during the 1970s and 80s was an imitation of European and American disco. The first track here, by Osayomore Joseph, humorously satirises Africans ‘foolishly’ dancing like a white man. Edo Funk may well move to a slinky disco beat but it is undeniably African and the three artists on this collection are the leading originators of the genre.

Benin City is the capital of Edo State and it was the home town location where Victor Uwaifo built his Joromi Studio. Uwaifo was already a highlife star across Nigeria, particularly for his hits ‘Joromi’ and ‘Guitar Boy’ and the ‘Ekassa’ series of songs. During the 1980s Uwaifo and others experimented with the fusion of highlife and funk. Churning highlife guitars are accompanied by horn sections, delightfully cheesy keyboards, and tinges of psychedelia. Osayomore is the most controversial and political of the three artists featured here. He is as spiky and boastful as his contemporary Fela – which can be heard on ‘My Name is Money’. Uwaifo is the most musically experimental and funky, and Akaba Man is the smoothest. A magnificently quirky variation of highlife.