Segun Adewale - Ojo Je (Ben Gomori / SMBD Edits) 12" (Stern)
Segun Adewale - Ojo Je (Ben Gomori / SMBD Edits) 12" (Stern)
The 4th edition in the acclaimed Sterns Edits series sees curator Ben Gomori open up the Sterns Music catalogue to other keen re-editors — with Brownswood / Worldwide genius SMBD (aka Simbad) the first to step up to the plate.
Nigeria's Segun Adewale is sometimes referred to as the 'crown prince' of jùjú music, but in the 1980s he developed a sound all of his own, which we called yo-pop. A mixture of jùjú, funk, reggae, Afrobeat and jazz, its vibrant melange can be heard on his 1986 record 'Ojo Je', where both these originals are taken from. SMBD delivers too superb flips of the title track — a gritty funk-fuelled 'Disco' version with live bass, and a deliciously deep dub-house version. Gomori, meanwhile, takes the haunting 'Atewo-Lara Ka Tepa Mo'se' for an extended hypnotic, tribal trip.