The term ‘Juju’ became the name for palm wine music of the era in 1935. An audience had watched a member of Tunde King’s band throw his tambourine in the air as a part of their performance and came up with the name. The word ‘Ju’ means throw in Yoruba.
Tunde King made a massive impact in the Nigerian entertainment industry and paved the way for legends like King Sunny-Ade, Sir Shina Peters, Fatai Rolling- Dollars and Ebenezer Obey. Check out these 11 things you most likely do not know about him.
- He was born on August 24, 1910, and named Abdulrafiu Babatunde King.
- His classmate taught him how to play the guitar while he was attending Eko Boys High School. The guitar later became his instrument of choice.
- He started playing his music with a group in a mechanic shop in the Olowogbowo area of Lagos Island in the 1920s.
- His music was not officially recognised as ‘Juju music’ until 1935 after he and his group played one of his hit songs, “Sapara ti Sajule Orun” (Sapara has gone to Heaven) at the funeral of Dr. Oguntola Odunmbaka, who was famous for running a campaign to prohibit the spread of smallpox.
- His 4-man band consisted of King, who played the guitar-banjo and had lead vocals, Ishola Caxton Martins on sekere (gourd rattle), Ahmed Lamidi George on tambourine and Sanya (“Snake”) Johnson on tomtom and supporting vocals.
- Some of his biggest records include Eko Akete, Oba Oyinbo and Dunia.
- According to Christopher Alan Waterman in his book, ‘Juju: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)’, although King’s songs were played on Radio Lagos in 1932 and 1933, he made very little money from them in royalties.
- He fought in World War II as a Merchant Mercenary before coming back to Lagos in 1941.
- Even when he was no longer famous for his music in Nigeria, he was still spotted playing in places like Conakry and Dakar until 1954.
- He died in the 1980s.
Thanks to the contributions of Tunde King and his band, we’ve been blessed with years of beautiful Juju music that will influence artists for generations to come.