Biography
Born on 30 October 1948 in Lagos, Nigeria, Alhaji Chief Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister rose during the mid-1970s as a leading Nigerian exponent of fuji, a vocal-and-percussion style rooted in Muslim traditions that shares juju’s rhythmic foundations yet dispenses with electric guitars in favor of a more indigenous sound. Already familiar to Muslim audiences across the country from his early teens through repeated appearances at the national ‘were’ festivals marking the close of Ramadan, he turned professional in 1970 upon completing army service at the conclusion of the 1967-70 civil war. He promptly assembled the twenty-five-piece Supreme Fuji Commanders and spent the remainder of the decade crisscrossing Muslim regions of Nigeria, moving into regular studio work in the early 1980s just as fuji began to challenge juju’s dominance among broader, non-Muslim record buyers.
Since the mid-1970s his principal competitor for supremacy in the genre has been Alhaji Chief Kollington Ayinla; the rivalry sharpened dramatically in 1982 when Kollington accused Barrister, in an album lyric, of causing the death of fellow bandleader Ayinla Omowura in a bar altercation. Another challenger later emerged in Wasiu Barrister, who performed with the Supreme Fuji Commanders between 1978 and 1984 before departing to establish the Talazo Fuji Commanders Organisation; Barrister responded to the split by remarking, “It’s not a threat. I am there as the father, he is there as the son.”
City University in Los Angeles conferred a PhD upon him in 1988, and the following year Nigerian voters named him musician of the year. London concerts in 1990 introduced international listeners to the sound then labeled “Fuji Garbage,” and while in England he completed sessions for his first overseas release on Globestyle Records, widening his global reach. His 1993 British tour presented the complete thirty-four-piece fuji percussion ensemble in performances that spilled musicians into appreciative crowds.
Since the mid-1970s his principal competitor for supremacy in the genre has been Alhaji Chief Kollington Ayinla; the rivalry sharpened dramatically in 1982 when Kollington accused Barrister, in an album lyric, of causing the death of fellow bandleader Ayinla Omowura in a bar altercation. Another challenger later emerged in Wasiu Barrister, who performed with the Supreme Fuji Commanders between 1978 and 1984 before departing to establish the Talazo Fuji Commanders Organisation; Barrister responded to the split by remarking, “It’s not a threat. I am there as the father, he is there as the son.”
City University in Los Angeles conferred a PhD upon him in 1988, and the following year Nigerian voters named him musician of the year. London concerts in 1990 introduced international listeners to the sound then labeled “Fuji Garbage,” and while in England he completed sessions for his first overseas release on Globestyle Records, widening his global reach. His 1993 British tour presented the complete thirty-four-piece fuji percussion ensemble in performances that spilled musicians into appreciative crowds.
Singles
