FOUR YEARS AFTER BARRISTER; STILL LEADING FROM BEYOND

How time flies!, it is unbelievable that the creator of Fujimusic and its Chief Exponent, Alhaji Sikiru Ololade Ayinde Balogun, MFR ,a.k.a, Dr. Sikiru Ayinde  Barrister, left this earthly plane four yearsago.

Four years, that is the equivalent of forty eight months, ortwo hundred and eight weeks, or one thousand, four hundred and sixty days.
And yet, every day, he seems to be very much alive, becausehis music lives on.
Driving through  the densely populated areas of  WesternNigeria,Kwara and Kogi States, or walking through any Yoruba enclave anywhere in the world, be it in Peckhamor Barking in London,UK. Rhode Island, Houston or New Jersey in the United States. AnyYoruba get together in South Africa, Canada,Saudi Arabia, Sudan, all parts of Europe,not to mention Ghana, Benin, Togo and of course the sizable Yoruba contingentof Abidjan, you cannot but help feel the pulsating rhythm of his music, and youcould literally, touch that silk voice as it hits you from one street to thenext.
Let me state here that it is not peculiar for a hugelypopular deceased artiste to continue to be a bestseller even in death, like JimiHendrix, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Fela, Ayinla Omowura and ofcourse the incomparable Michael Jackson, all of whom had assumed mythical status, and fanshave  created  avenues to propagate their music in perpetuity.
But, the case of Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister is interesting because it is unique. He created a genre that not only spread like wildfire, the genre also eclipsed, and ultimately absorbed, other musical forms in Yoruba-land.
His single minded pursuit of excellence in his musical career came at a huge personal cost, to his health,to his relationships, he lost kids, lost properties, and had to bear the cross all pioneers are destined to do, while starting a dynasty.
And what a dynasty it became, Fuji music, which he named after Mount Fuji in Japan, is the dominant musical genre in an ethnic nationality of over fifty million people, his signature album, Fuji garbage 2, sold in excess of ten million copies, and is still the highest selling album by a Yoruba artiste till date, A foreign label domiciled in Nigeria, once came to Barrister to sign a one off album deal, he charged them an amount they thought was excessive, and aborted the deal. The album, Dimensional Fuji, went on to sell millions, and was arguably the album that killed the use of LP's in Fuji music, as its 18 minute per side format was becoming inadequate for an artiste who preferred a thirty minute per side format.
It also led to a whole new industry consisting of thousands of Fuji bands all over the world, musical equipment rentals, which was almost non existent before Fuji, became a booming industry, as Fuji, with its drum laden percussion and throbbing rhythm, required less strings and horns, and therefore little incentive to own musical equipment, except of course the big boys. Professional back up dancers, independent radio presenters, and mobile Yoruba DJs then had a bigger repertoire to play with.
Like all pioneers, he was also an experimentalist. He started shooting promotional videos in 1987, with the Barry Wonder album, and apart from the Inferno album,which he could not undertake for obvious reasons, he shot a video for all his albums from then till he passed on.
While some may argue it, but his video for Fuji Garbage 2 was the first commercial musical video in Southwest Nigeria. it was shot as a promotional video, but became so popular that people were reproducing it and selling it, and it became a hit on its own, creating a new dance style and making a particular Fashion Designer very popular.
It has been four years, there were those who felt they deserve to lead the Fuji universe, even when he was alive, and gave themselves all manners of titles, have since discovered to their dismay, that it is harder to lead a movement based solely on moral authority and antecedents than  it seems.not only because they lack the moral stature, but that they are simply not Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.
Even in death, his fan base keeps expanding, as younger listeners discover the Barry brand, and it would be modest to say he has some of  the largest,the biggest and the most diverse fan pages dedicated to any Nigerian artiste on the internet, whether dead or alive. Some of these groups have also gone further to organize annual prayers, shows and even charity walk in his memory.
Barry was a unique individual, the like that comes around once in every other generation. and that is why despite the fact that he departed four years ago, it was his works that people refer to in conversations, it was things he sang about, that serve as a compass, to the way we judge our future, based on a silky, intoxicating and prophetic voice from our past.
Continue to rest in peace, Alhaji Agba.

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