₦airaland Forum

naptu2:
Sikiru Adepoju was born to Chief Ayanleke Adepoju and Mrs Adepoju on November 10, 1952 in Eruwa, Ibarapa, Oyo State.

His great grandfather, grandfather and father were all drummers. They didn't specifically teach him how to drum, but he picked it up because he was always around many drummers. However, he didn't want to be a drummer because he saw the way his father and grandfather had to struggle to get recognition and make ends meet.

He moved to Lagos in the 1970s and became an apprentice cobbler in Mushin. He also played the talking drum part time.

His boss got a job as a cab driver at Ikeja Airport and became more interested in that, so Sikiru Adepoju had to leave the shoemaking business and became a full time drummer. He played for various bands at this time including Sir Shina Peters' band.

A dispute in Sir Shina Peters' band led Sikiru Adepoju to leave the music business once more and he became a revenue collector for the NURTW in Ojo in 1982. He made a lot of money with the NURTW.

However, he had already gained a reputation as a very good drummer and he couldn't run away from music for too long because people kept inviting him to play in their bands. That was how he was invited to play in Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey's Inter-Reformers Band.

He left Obey's band in 1985 because they had just returned from a tour of Europe and Obey decided that they should tour the US, but Adepoju decided that he was not going.

Highlife legend, Orlando Julius Ekenmode, invited Sikiru Adepoju to play the talking drum in his video shoot and after the shoot he invited him to move to the US with him.

Adepoju moved to the US with Orlando Julius in 1985. He was earning $250 a week while playing for Orlando Julius in the US.

He met US based legendary Nigerian percussionist, Babatunde Olatunji in 1985. Olatunji had played with legends like Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Cannonball Adderley and Mickey Hart. Olatunji introduced Sikiru Adepoju to his friends.

Sikiru Adepoju could have been a 2-time Grammy Award winner by now. He and Babatunde Olatunji played on the Planet Drum album in 1991. The album won a Grammy Award, but Olatunji, Adepoju and 6 other performers were listed as contributing artistes rather than primary artistes. Therefore, the Grammy Awards only presenter the group with one trophy and eight certificates.

This issue was remedied in 2006 when Sikiru Adepoju performed on the Global Drum Project album. He was listed as a primary artiste this time and he was given his own Grammy Award trophy.

Sikiru Adepoju and Babatunde Olatunji also featured on 2Pac Shakur's posthumous album "The Rose That Grew From Concrete".

[size-12pt]If Wizkid Wasn’t My Guy I’d Punch Him In The Face On Sight, I’m Not Davido — Burna Boy[/size]

By Ademola Olonilua
Wed, 07 Sep 2022 15:57:01 GMT

Once again, Grammy award-winning artiste, Burna Boy has lashed out at the fans of his colleague, Wizkid.

In a now-deleted post via his verified Twitter account, the African Giant, stated some of his recent achievements when a tweep noted that the superstar singer neither has the most certified African album nor the best-selling African album worldwide.

According to the Twitter user, Yousouf N’Dour, a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, actor, businessman, and politician; has the most certified African album. Moreso, the tweep claimed that Wizkid has the best-selling African album worldwide.

Reacting to the claims in the deleted post, the Last Last singer reeled some of his achievements as he stated that if Wizkid was not ‘his guy’ he would punch the Essence singer on the face when next they meet just to shut the mouth of his Twitter fans as he further stated that he is not the pop star, Davido.

Making reference to the success of his 2019 album, African Giant, the singer wrote, “African Giant – Platinum in the Netherlands; Gold in Britain, Gold in Belgium; Gold in France. Four and more certs still coming in for this 2019 album. Number 2 ‘Global Drum Project” was a collaboration of Mickey Hart, Giovanni Hildalgo, Zakir Hussein, and Sikiru Adepoju, Not “His” album. OLODO FC.”

In another tweet, the Common Man singer posted, “If he wasn’t my guy, then I would definitely have banged him in the face on sight just so his Twitter jokers realise I’m not Davido. But Alhamdulilah I know better and I’m mature enough to know he’s not you.”