King Sunny Adé was born in 1946 in Oshogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. He and his 20-piece African Beats hypnotize audiences with juju -deeply layered, percussive groove music. Juju started in the '20s as local bar music and developed over the years, absorbing new technologies and influences.
In the '50s, amplification made it possible to combine acoustic elements, such as guitar melodies and solo singing frm the older palm wine music, with full-force ensemble Yoruba drumming to create the rich, dense sound of modern juju. The top ambassador of juju, King Sunny Adé sparked an international Afropop invasion with his sensational tours in the early 1980s. KSA, as Nigerians know him, was just 17 when he eluded the expectations of his courtly family to pursue music playing in Lagos highlife bands. Soon, he latched on to the juju craze, forming his first band, The Green Spots in '67. The group emulated the style of juju elder statesman, I.K. Dairo and his Blue Spots, but by the time KSA launched the African Beats in '74, he had overshadowed Dairo and gone head-to-head with Chief Commander, Ebenezer Obey.
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