Seun Emmanuel
Nigerian singer Adekunle Temitope, known as Small Doctor, has expressed concern over the current state of the popular Yoruba music genre, fuji.
The singer claimed that Fuji music is “dying” and called for urgent action to address the situation.
He stated that after the meteoric rise of Remi Aluko and his contemporaries in the early 2000s, he hadn’t witnessed the rise of any other fuji musician.
On his X handle, he wrote, “I stand to be corrected.
“I feel Fuji music is dying and something needs to be fixed urgently..
After the blowing up of Remi Aluko and the likes in 2001 Or 2002, I gaven’t heard nor seen another Fuji artist blow up.”
Fújì emerged in the 1960s, evolving from the improvisational wéré music, also known as ajísari, which was performed to awaken Muslims before dawn during the fasting season of Ramadan.
The genre was named after the Japanese stratovolcano, Mount Fuji, by Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, the pioneer of wéré. Other renowned Fuji artists include K1 De Ultimate, King Saheed Osupa, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, and Obesere.
Pop artists like 9ice, Lord of Ajasa, Olamide, Small Doctor, Asake, Naira Marley, Qdot, and Seyi Vibez have also drawn inspiration from Fuji.
