Pa Fatai Olagunju, aka Fatai Rolling Dollar has kicked the bucket. The veteran ace highlife musician gave up the ghost aged 85years, at the Ahmadiyya Hospital, Abule Egba, Lagos, where he had been admitted for a week. News has it that he had only recently arrived from the USA, where he was doing some musical shows.
The octogenarian will go down in history as one of Nigeria's greatest Juju musicians. He was known to have revived and re-lived the music of the 50s. He could indeed be describes as a musical historian, and custodian of culture. One of his favourite tunes was, 'Won Kere Si Number Wa'. He combined his versatility on the guitar with other instruments like agidigbo, samba, sekere, agogo, and igo (bottle), which he used to produce the 'Clave' sound. He once said that the white man stole the idea of the igo (bottle) clave from Juju music, in order to invent the modern day musical clave sound. He was also known to have said that the word 'Juju' came from Yoruba language, meaning 'ju-ju' (throw-throw), which depicted the way the tambourine was wriggled by the original juju exponents of those early days. He was born on 22 July, 1926, in Ede, Oshun State, and may be buried today.
- RIP to Baba $$$ himself. Great guy. I met him a few times at those good old 'Agidigbo Joints' for inside, inside Lagos Island. That place wey person no dey fit see parking space!!! Se you know? But their beer/gulder dey 'sewon' (cool)...no be small.
- This is how national heroes are made, and should be made. No be those jokers wey dey go queue for Abuja to receive national award from Mr President...so tay even police IG, Ringim, received one in the heat of his woeful performance. Una no dey shame?.
- Some people tink say ju-ju na the same as juju? No o!!! Me I be tink say 'ju-ju' meant 'throway-throway yansh'. This sounds more like it. Abi what do you tink? Perhaps Baba $$$ was only trying to be 'decent' by telling the tambourine version.
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