Obi Asika
The Music Executive and Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Obi Asika, has stated that the 1990s boyband Junior and Pretty were the pioneers of what is now known as contemporary Afrobeats music.
Going down memory lane in a recent interview, Asika said that the music duo, who ruled the airwaves back in the day, approached him with their music in a studio. According to him, they were rapping in American accent and singing about unrelatable topics.
I told them, ‘Hey guys, where are you from?’ They replied with Ajegunle, and I asked, ‘Where does your accent come from? I can’t understand.’ So, I said, ‘Just do me a favor and leave for now. We usually record once a month. Return next time. Try simply being yourselves.’
“Where’d you study? How did you commute? What’s your favorite meal? Tell me how you made it here. You hopped on two buses and rode two bicycles. Rhyme about that. Create lyrics that resonate with the dudes you bump into daily around your neighborhood. Honestly, I overlooked them though. I figured these guys aren’t up for this,” he stated.
As he stated, a month afterward, Junior and Pretty returned with around five new songs penned down.
That transformation was huge since these artists returned with their track ‘My Ghanaian Lover.’ They delivered the lyrics in pidgin, which completely shifted the dynamics. This prompted us to head directly to the studio for about six continuous months alongside them, working intensively. During this time, I also invited Jimmy Jatt to add his scratching skills to the recordings, though everyone thought I was crazy.
I’m not sure why we have a DJ here. Isn’t that an extra expense? What’s going on with all of this? I told everyone not to worry.
“So ‘Junior and Pretty’ are considered the pioneers of Afrobeats because it essentially represents the localization of hip-hop. That’s how I see it,” Asika said.
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