Legendary Nigerian musician, William Onyeabor famously known for his song 'When the going is smooth and good' has died.

His first son, Charles who is currently in Italy confirmed his death exclusively to LIB saying, 'yea, my dad is dead. He died peacefully on Monday January 16, 2017 at his palace in Enugu".

Before his death, Onyeabor had 10 studio albums, has a cult following especially outside Nigeria.



Onyeabor was a remarkably elusive musician who, in the 1970s and ‘80s made ground-breaking, futuristic, synth-heavy electronic music that was far ahead of its time.

In his first ever radio appearance on the Lauren Laverne Show on BBC 6 Music in December 2014, he said 'I only create music that will help the world'.

The late music icon is survived by 4 children and 4 grand-children.

When the going is good and smooth,
Many many people will be your friend.


But when the going becomes tough,
Many many of them will run away.

NwamaziNwaAro:
:' His first son, Charles who is currently in Italy confirmed his death exclusively to LIB saying, 'yea, my dad is dead. He died peacefully on Monday January 16, 2017 at his palace in Enugu".

RIP to the Legend...

But

Why do ENUGU people brag a lot...

NwamaziNwaAro:
:' His first son, Charles who is currently in Italy confirmed his death exclusively to LIB saying, 'yea, my dad is dead. He died peacefully on Monday January 16, 2017 at his palace in Enugu".

RIP to the Legend...

But

Why do ENUGU people brag a lot...

Hygist:


http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2017/01/lib-exclusive-legendary-nigerian.html?m=1

vascey:
Hi guys!

Yesterday I read through the Time Top 10 albums of the year (http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/04/arts-and-entertainment/slide/top-10-albums/). Original copies of this guy's album goes for as high as $500.

I was very surprised to see a Nigerian name in there. More surprising is the fact that I had never heard his name in my life. So since yesterday, I have been searching for information online about the Maestro. Apparently, I am not the only one doing so.

This compilation (Who is William Onyeabor) was released by Luaka Bop. See some of the comments about William Onyeabor below:


"Between the late-’70s and the mid-’80s, William Onyeabor released eight albums on his own Wilfilms label in Nigeria. Then he dropped out of public view altogether, and the peculiar genius of his percolating, synthesizer-centered grooves was lost to everyone but fanatical record collectors. This long-overdue career survey is riveting and unfailingly funky; you can hear the inspiration of Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, and sounds that would turn into new wave a few years later, but Onyeabor mostly sounds like nobody else on the planet."

Read more: Top 10 Albums | Top 10 Everything of 2013 - Arts and Entertainment | TIME.com http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/04/arts-and-entertainment/slide/top-10-albums/#ixzz2nGFqWCGd

"If Fela Kuti was a child of James Brown, fellow Nigerian William Onyeabor is something like the next-generation musical offspring of Parliament-Funkadelic. His songs are extended call-and-response disco-funk jams driven by the space-age sound of synthesizers and drum machines — very new tools when Onyeabor was recording in the late '70s and '80s, especially in Africa. After years of existing mainly as secret grail passed between electronic music DJs and other crate diggers, Onyeabor's handful of studio LPs have been licensed and boiled down to a killer compilation by Luaka Bop, the tastemaking world music label started by David Byrne.

So who IS William Onyeabor? Part of the album's conceit is that even the compilers don't fully know. The liner notes, by veteran British journalist Vivien Goldman, note that Onyeabor is a crowned chief in his hometown village of Enugu, Eastern Nigeria, where he lives in "a hidden palace in the woods" and is a booster of the local Christian music scene. But he essentially left his own music career in the '80s, in the wake of the recordings collected here, presumably when he became a born-again Christian."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/20/236378375/first-listen-william-onyeabor-who-is-william-onyeabor

The other half of the question – No really, who is this dude? – is less fully resolved. Luaka Bop was able to secure Onyeabor’s permission to release the music, which culls nine tracks from his discography, but the man himself wasn’t keen on addressing the many rumors that have orbited his covert star. Some reports suggest he became a filmmaker in Russia, a businessman in Sweden, or both. What’s fairly clear is that he turned his back on music, devoting his focus solely to Christianity. The label’s endeavor to release Onyeabor’s music took ten years, and their quest to pin the man down often revealed more questions than answers. But in the end there is some beauty to that: We have only these recordings to know Onyeabor by, and with repeated listens the mystery becomes less a series of unanswered queries and something more like a sermon. words/ j woodbury

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2013/11/11/who-is-william-onyeabor/


“… irrestible…” – The Times

“…ridiculous!” – Gilles Peterson
“…a fantastic man…” – The Wire
“.. comète musicale…” – Liberation
“… a killer party mix!” – Rolling Stone
“…completely exhilarating…” – Telerama
“… gripping stuff! ” – The Arts Desk (NEW!)
“8/10…truly before his time.” – Clash, 8/10
“…simply phenomenal…” – Bob Boilen, NPR
“…something new, finally.” - La Repubblica
★★★★ - “…a major discovery…” – Record Collector
“…absolutely fabulous!” – Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6
★★★★- “…An explosion of psych-rock and synth-pop…” Metro
“8/10…a devastating blend of funk tension and pro slipperiness…” – Uncut
“…a mind-blowing-one of-a-kind-synth-pop jam…” – Dorian Lynsky, Q Magazine
“…hypnotic slice of psych-synthy Afro-funk desserves to cause mainstream tremors” - Metro
“…the one thing beyond doubt, is how wonderful the music is.” – Alex Petridis, The Guardian
“…incredible fireworks celebrating dance , peace and love.This disc is a small miracle.” L’Express
★★★★ “…after more than 30 years his recordings speak for themselves” – David Hutcheon, Mojo
“…searing synth-funk and proto dance floor ear-worms, unlike anything or anyone else…” – The Vinyl Factory
★★★1/2 (out of 4)”… kinetic marvel, which shimmers and shakes with improvisational glee…” Philly.com

http://redeyeusa./2013/11/14/the-press-wont-stop-for-william-onyeabor/

"Some biographies claim that he studied cinematography in Russia, returning to Nigeria in the 1970s to start his own Wilfilms music label and to set up a recording and production studio. He was later crowned a High Chief in Enugu, where he still lives as a businessman working on government contracts and running his own flour mill.[4] According to the Luaka Bop record label, Onyeabor "self-released 8 albums between 1978 and 1985 and then became a born-again Christian, refusing ever to speak about himself or his music again....By attempting to speak with Onyeabor himself, and by talking to people who seem to have firsthand knowledge, Luaka Bop has been trying to construct an accurate biography of him for the past 18 months...without success."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Onyeabor

Others: http://luakabop.com/onyeabor/

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18732-william-onyeabor-who-is-william-onyeabor/

NwamaziNwaAro:
:' His first son, Charles who is currently in Italy confirmed his death exclusively to LIB saying, 'yea, my dad is dead. He died peacefully on Monday January 16, 2017 at his palace in Enugu".

RIP to the Legend...

But

Why do ENUGU people brag a lot...