DELE SOSIMI,COME BACK HOME !

Shortly after I blogged on the fading profile of afrobeat music in Nigeria earlier this year,I found myself discussing the same issue with some friends at high profile celebrity joint,The Coliseum in Ikeja.It was there that someone drew my attention to the dogged efforts that a mutual childhood collleaque, Dele Sosimi has been making over the years in popularising the genre far away in the United Kingdom.I found myself unconsciously gasping aloud,momentarily attracting everybody's attention to myself:How on earth could I have forgotten Dele?



My first thought was to go edit that post and add a line or two on Dele,but on further reflection I decided that the guy deserves much more than that.I'll explain why.



When Fela's son and now the torchbearer of afrobeat music,Femi Anikulapo -Kuti relocated from the great Baptist Academy to (the greater ?) Igbobi College in the late 1970s,he met a very vibrant social scene largely propelled by the lively and immensely popular college band (ask the old students of Methodist Girls High School for instance!).The band at that time was fronted by Dele Sosimi who already had a reputation of a genius on the keyboards, Femi Elias (who has probably taken after his father as a law guru) who displayed similar dexterity on the bass guitar,and a few others I cannot immediately remember.



Femi Kuti and Dele Sosimi took to each other like siamese twins instantly,and they complemented each other perfectly.Femi the tall,quiet,genteel,aje-butterish looking fellow,and Dele the very typical tough-looking,street smart type.Both shared a common deep-rooted passion for afrobeat,and Dele was soon jamming with Fela's Egypt 80 band-even as a teenager.Yes,both Dele Sosimi and femi Kuti were nurtured together directly by the legend himself,Fela Anikulapo-kuti!They went on to perform on several of Fela's albums and tours.



It was little surprise then that Dele Sosimi would play a major role in the evolution of Femi's own band,the Positive Force.His influence on Femi could easily be felt on the hyper-charged,energy sapping pace of the group's earlier albums.Perhaps it was this free spirit and youthful zest that attracted so much European interest in the group.While Femi preferred to shuttle between Europe,America and Nigeria,Dele Sosimi settled permanently in the UK and has been there for so so many years - which explains why those of us in Nigeria may easily forget him occassionally.



While in London sometime ago,I got gist of Dele's growing popularity,but I never got the opportunity of watching him.My friend at the Coliseum (himself also a london self-exiled) however intimated us that Dele Sosimi is in massive demand in queen's land.I had mixed feelings though.I'm happy that Dele is keeping the flag flying abroad,and in the process obviously doing well for himself,but on the other hand I feel bad that we have someone like that yet afrobeat is losing its soul locally.



Dele Sosimi should come back home and bring life back to afrobeat.His presence is exactly what Femi himself needs to jolt him back to action.Both are still under 50,and still have several active years ahead of them.I also wonder why kennis Music and others have not looked their way,because in afrobeat is hidden the real big money that can galvanise the entire music industry in Nigeria,in fact Africa.Replicating American hip hop and other foreign genres in whatever guise can only go as far as the tide,believe me!