Now now now now, Margaret Thatcher, hey hey hey, free Mandela,
Now now now now, George Bush, hey hey hey, free Mandela

Now now now now, Ai-kho-mu, hey hey hey, free Nigeria.
Now now now now, Ba-ban-gida, hey hey hey, free Nigeria.

Tracy Chapman and Majek Fashek, Wednesday at Poplar Creek:
May 29, 1992|By Chris Heim.



Don`t ever hope to be a critics’ darling. Sooner or later (usually around the third album), the very things that once were singled out for praise will be turned into weapons to smash your latest work into little bits. Chapman was everyone`s favorite a few years ago when she could be cast in the role of charming street-singing waif with a conscience, an authentic voice of the people whose spare folk songs and anger at injustice allowed pop music and its minions to bask in the glow of humanity and significance again.




Chapman hasn't changed all that much since then. She's actually a slightly better (i.e., more emotional and flexible) singer. Her songs are occasionally more pedantic than poetic, but they have always been. And now sometimes they are also more personal and revealing. (Hear, for example, the incisive "Matters of the Heart," the title track of her new album.) The only major difference is that the reception greeting her third record consists largely of sermons about the importance of artistic progress and a show of disdain that is usually reserved for animal-sacrificing, death-metal groups targeted by the PMRC.




Opening here is one of the most interesting new artists to emerge from the burgeoning African reggae scene. Unlike other highly praised African reggae artists such as Alpha Blondy or Lucky Dube, Fashek gives African influences (in this case, richly rhythmic and percussive Nigerian forms) a much larger and clearer role. His fusion of the classic reggae of Bob Marley and the innovative soul-Afrobeat of Nigeria's Fela (with much the same angry yet poetic social conscience both artists exhibit in their work) inserts the kind of sharp, smart and even stylish new energy into reggae that it has needed for some time.

naptu2:
It’s a little bit difficult to get a YouTube video of this song because many foreigners have falsely labelled this song as a Bob Marley song. It’s actually Majek Fashek’s cover of a song by the Eagles and it’s one of my favourite Nigerian rock songs.

Majek Fashek – Hotel California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5JgwvRWbs

naptu2:
Majek Fashek – Spirit of Love (1991)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgJgvpcObsM

Listen to my new song dedicated to all Nigerian rappers at

https://my.notjustok.com/track/download/id/233002/

HarkymTheOracle:
Say no to EXCESSIVE weed and Alcohol.