FUJI: A Opera redefining the perception of Fuji music

FUJI is a well-known Yoruba musical genre. It evolved from improvisational wéré music, also known as ajisari, which means “waking up for sari,” a type of music performed to wake Muslims before dawn during the Ramadan fasting season.

Sikiru, Alhaji Ayinde Barrister is widely regarded as the father of Fuji music and a former student of Jibowu Barrister, an Ajiwere music performer. According to Ayinde Barrister, Fuji music incorporates elements of various genres such as Apala, Juju, Aro, Afro, Gudugudu, and Highlife.

In addition to the inspiration provided by these various music genres, Ayinde Barrister blended the beats of the Sakara Drum (a Yoruba musical instrument) and the melodic outputs of foreign musical instruments used by Juju and Highlife musicians to create his unique style of music.

When asked why he chose the name ‘Fuji’ for the genre, Ayinde Barrister said he got the idea after seeing a poster at an airport advertising Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest peak.

However, the beautiful genre has been relegated and labelled as razz over the years. It was wrongly perceived to be primarily enjoyed by street boys, market women, and members of the uneducated class.

The goal of Fuji: A Opera, a multi-dimensional entertainment platform that deconstructs the fuji music genre from its enigmatic past and re-imagines it for a new generation of music fans and culture lovers, has been to change this narrative.

In 2020, Fuji: A Opera launched in a 5-day showcase at the Alliance Francaise de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre in Lagos. The showcase included: (i) an exhibition; (ii) an audience with KWAM 1 in collaboration with the Fuji Musicians Associations of Nigeria; and (iii) a live music showcase featuring two genre icons-King Saheed Osupa and King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall.

Fuji: A Opera began a podcast series in April 2021, hosted by Jide Taiwo, a reputable music journalist who had interesting conversations with Fuji legends, culture custodians, genre lovers, and new school artists who are infusing Fuji sounds into contemporary music.

The goal was to put these evergreen conversations on a large enough platform for people to recognise Fuji’s significance in the past, present, and future. The five-episode podcast series is available on various podcast platforms, including iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, AudioMack, and many others.

FUJI: A Opera curated a series of activations to end the year, beginning in November with an Art Exhibition – #Orijinalfujiisart in collaboration with Orijin and a talented digital artist, Bidemi Tata, who showcased twenty original Fuji inspired artworks.

Fuji Vibrations, a unique music platform that showcased the exceptional talents of the genre and tapped into the key communities that birthed the sounds of Fuji music, was curated in December 2021.

Fuji: A Opera continues to depict Fuji music in various facets of society, with the goal of attracting a new generation of fans and changing the narrative.