Gongo a so’ singer, 9ice, has identified fuji musicians, Abas Akande Obesere and Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, as some of the artistes who influenced him.
He also named the musician widely regarded as ‘fuji creator;, the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, as another influential force in his career.
While Pasuma (orobo-kibo singer) is described as ‘an entertainer’, as differentiated by his contemporary Saheed Osupa, who is revered for philosophical composition, Obesere is regarded as the a leader in the unleashing of erotic songs, with mixed juju/highlife singer, St Janet, probably being his match.
Many had actually located a lot of the influence of fuji in 9ice’s music.
He confirmed this in a candid conversation with SPS, though he said his inspiration was Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean.
9ice confessed that he initially emulated Wyclef’s style, sounding “100 per cent” like him.
“My trigger point was Wyclef [Jean]. If anybody listened to me at the beginning, there was a time I was sounding like Wyclef 100 per cent. And there were other people that were sounding like him but they felt that I sounded better than them when it comes to sounding like Wyclef.
