By Akeem Busari
Alternative Afrobeat musician Kola Ogunkoya has been waxing lyrical about the supports he received from juju music legend King Sunny Ade, while coming up as an Afrobeat artiste.
Ogunkoya made this known on his verified Facebook page, as he also recalled how he was named ‘Gbedu Master’, by Afrobeat King himself, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
“Nigerian artists of today are enjoying the smooth road paved by the likes of Sunny Ade and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
“This man, King Sunny Ade, I can never talk about my true stories and ignore his name or talk about how African beat gets to the world. Not because it just happened today, if we remember history of how it all started too, we look back and salute them.
“The King of African Beats Sunny Ade himself believe in me when no record label in Nigeria wanna try me. Why? They told me they Afraid of Fela Kuti, they said my music sound just like him and there will be problems.
“And guess what happened few years later, Fela saw me play on same stage with him at Lekki Sunsplash sponsored by 7up and powered by Dapo Adelegan. Fela Kuti gave me the name ‘GbeduMaster’, after he called me to back stage and ask where or how I got my Afrobeat this close to his Egypt 80 band,” he recalled gleefully.
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