SONNY Okosun, one of Nigeria's foremost musical heroes of the 20th century, made considerable impact as a singer, composer and band leader. Okosun succeeded in getting to the top of his career with the admixture of roots reggae, folk and later, gospel. He however achieved a landmark success as a political activist with messages that aggressively confronted South Africa's one time apartheid regime.He was one of Emi's top recording stars in the 70s and 80s when the recording industry was still vibrant; and has a lot of hit albums to his credit. To most people, African leaders appears to be his greatest session, perhaps because it has been backed in terms of promotional strategy by one of the greatest videos on the scene, in terms of production and motive.The costumes, recording scenes and live actions all speak for Africa. Needless to mention the very theme of the music whose message, though political celebrates the virtues of some African leaders who include the late Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Patrice Lumumba and all the patriotic and Pan Africanist leaders across Africa.Aside from its entertainment value, it s a work that has documented history, with information that is of relevance not only to the whole of Africa, but also the entire world. For this reason, it is an album that is bound to attract international appeal.Among others, Okosuns has hit albums such as Mother and Child and Mafe whose popularity were justified in the early 80s by their entry into the famous Radio Nigeria 2 top ten chart. The two albums depict Okosun's sound identity as they are based on the simple melodic structure, often repetitive to elicit commercial relevance and viability.The music also has the semblance of a reggae format, which is more original than imitative, with a unique commercial approach. Even Mafe, a hit song, which was borrowed from the late Bobby Benson who first performed it in the highlife idiom around 1963, takes on a repetitive arrangement and treatment that is on the rock edge; even though it has an African interpretation.Most of these albums, like the very initial hit single Help, were produced by Odion Iruoje for the EMI recording stable. But the circumstances surrounding the recording are interesting, revealing and instructive.At the time he got to sign on to Emi in the early 70s, according to Iruoje, Okosuns was copying 'all these European pop. But I thought I had to do something more authentic. He could not sing well in English.I advised Okosuns to go to his village for some folklore and he eventually came up with O Jesu which was a success. The implication was that Okosuns was more at home with his native songs than European idioms which were obviously problematic for him to sing. Okosuns and his producer settled for this direction, a format, which instructed that his songs should be selected from folklore from the village.'However, Okosun's next composition was not in anyway different, it turned out to be another one in the conventional pop direction; and was titled Help. 'When he came up with help, I found that he still didn't do justice to it in terms of the translation that we agreed upon. I then told him he could not sing it even though it was a good song, I preferred Danny Anyiam of Fuel for love fame who had already proved himself a good singer with the 'Wrinkers Experience,' group,' said Iruoje.Continuing, Odion further explained: 'Okosuns did not like the choice of Dan Anyiam for fear that he would claim ownership of the song. But he settled for a friend of his called Perry Ernest who was coming from Ivory Coast at the time.' According to him, 'Perry Ernest arrived on the day of the recording, and, despite the fact that he rehearsed the song right there in the studio, he was able to give it good vocal delivery, with back up vocals by Dan Anyiam. Help was not only a hit, it also turned out to be the song that made Okosuns.'However, the fears that Okosuns entertained in the case of Dan Anyiam became justified with Perry Ernest whom he sought he trusted. Perry eventually claimed the ownership of the song. The information was given wide publicity by the press; but it was Odion who later came to Okosuns' rescue, to refute it.At that point, Okosuns seriously learnt to sing in English; and the immediate result was Rain which was also an instant him. After that came Papa's Land, with melodic structure based on the folklore of Ishan people. And it was at this point that the name of the band became Ozzidi and the concept, Ozzidism.Sonny Oyamende Okosuns was born in 1947 into an Ishan family at Irrua, Edo State as the eldest of nine children. His father who, at the time, worked with the Nigerian Railways, took the family first to Lagos and then to Enugu for a long stay following his duty posting there. After his early education, he entered the Government Trade Centre, Enugu to study Automobile Engineering but his heart was in music. His three-year apprenticeship in music as a chorister in the Holy Ghost Cathedral and in the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim both at Enugu prepared him for greater things.But his career as a musician could be said to have started in 1965 when he joined the Eastern Nigerian Theatre Group in Enugu, led at the time by John D. Ekwere.This group won the first prize at the National Arts competition and so represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Festival of Arts and Culture, giving him an early international exposure. After a brief acting career on the Nigerian stage, featuring the works of Professor Pepper Clarke, Prof. Wole Soyinka and others, he joined the Nigerian Television Authority in 1968 at a stage hand and actor. His apparent dislike for drab and routine work compelled him to take up music as a career.
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