Giving us hits like ‘Raise tha roof’, ‘Mo like Jesu gan’ and ‘Otiya’, Jazzman Olofin, Dekunle Fuji and Lord of Ajasa were some of the most sought after artistes who gave life to parties and musical concerts in the early 2000s.
Olusegun Osaniyi aka Lord of Ajasa, Olumuyiwa Olofinkuade aka Jazzman Olofin and Adekunle Oloyede Michael aka Dekunle Fuji all had deep Yoruba lingua in their music which endeared them in the hearts of fans across all levels.
They took the music scene by storm about two decades ago and their songs were on the lips of old and young, but in the last 10 years they have fizzled out of the scene with little or nothing about them aside their low key social media profile.
Here are three artistes who gave us danceable songs in the early 2000s:
Olusegun Osaniyi aka Lord of Ajasa:
Lord of Ajasa was born in Akure, the Ondo State capital and started his music career in the Oyemekun city. He earned the name ‘Lord of Ajasa’ during his days at the Ondo State Polytechnic in Owo (now Rufus Giwa Polytechnic) where he studied Quantity Survey.
Ajasa is a Yoruba word which literally means ‘flavour’. He must have earned the sobriquet through his bubbling lifestyle on campus while entertaining his colleagues at departmental and students’ union social events which is common on campuses.
He broke into the Nigerian music industry in 2000 with his hit track ‘Mai Lo’ (Don’t go yet), five years later in 2005, Lord of Ajasa dropped another hit track ‘Oti ya’ that recorded a bigger success than ‘Mai Lo’.
Following the success of ‘Oti ya’ which enjoyed massive air play on every musical shows on Nigerian radio and TV stations, he released his debut album ‘It’s Too Much’ under Platinum Records that same year. He would later become the nucleus of many parties, shows and concerts from 2005 till 2009, as promoters chase after him to perform at their events. He also featured on several songs – Danny Young’s ‘Welcome’, Olu Maintain’s ‘Fatima’ and many others.
His sophomore album ‘Second turning by the Right’ released in May 2008 was also a hit. The album had hit tracks like ‘Esa lo bade’, and the biggest of them all ‘Le fe nu so’ which featured Aboloro Akande aka 9ice and was produced by Coded Tunes boss Olumide Ogunade aka ID Cabasa. ‘Le fe nu so’ was the last hit track from Lord of Ajasa as the fortune of his music dwindled afterward.
Lord of Ajasa was a member of the clique called ‘The Smiling Head Soldier’ based in Bariga area of Lagos. The clique later metamorphosed into a record label – Coded Tunes. Other members of the clique included ID Cabasa, 2phat and MC Spako. When it became a full blown record label it had stars like Seriki, 9ice, Olamide and Kayefi.
In January 2019, singer Alariwo of Africa took to social media to call the attention of Nigerians to Lord of Ajasa’s ill health, urging his colleagues to raise funds for the singer. He was said to be in urgent need of funds to undergo a peptic ulcer operation.
ID Cabasa later debunked claims that his clique had abandoned Lord of Ajasa. He added that he, Olamide, 9ice and 2phat have been in touch with Lord of Ajasa and his wife. Ajasa is presently back on his feet and has been active on social media posting videos and photos of his recent activities. But the music industry truly misses his ‘Ajasa’.
Dekunle Fuji:
Adekunle Oloyede Michael popularly known as Dekunle Fuji made an inroad into the music industry with his fusion of Fuji and hip hop at a time such genre was not common like we have now with Barry Jhay, Small Doctor and others.
Dekunle, a graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), hails from Osun State He launched himself into the music scene with his gospel-inspired hit single ‘Mo Like Jesu Gan’ which featured rapper, Ikechukwu. The single earned him popularity among the church audience, Fuji and hiphop fans.
He was signed to Storms Records and released his album ‘No Lele’ in 2008 which had other songs like ‘Adura’, ‘I believe Jesus’, ‘Nigeria go Better,’ and a track which paid tribute to Pastor Bimbo Odukoya the late wife of the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Lagos, Taiwo Odukoya. Bimbo Odukoya died in a plane crash in 2005.
Despite having more of bible-inspired songs and performing his hit tracks in churches, Dekunle Fuji shocked fans in 2007 when he declared in an interview that he is not a gospel singer. He left the Nigeria music scene in 2011 when he travelled to the United States for a show and decided to remain there.
Nigerian Entertainment Today exclusively reported in 2013 that Dekunle Fuji is now a certified and practising nurse in New Jersey US. Prior to his relocation to the US, he had joined the Nigerian Police Force, where he was reportedly appointed as a senior officer.
Jazzman Olofin:
Olumuyiwa Olofinkuade Olajide popularly known as Jazzman Olofin was born in Agege, Lagos on August 3rd, 1973. He was one of the big names who took the Nigerian entertainment industry by storm in the early 2000s.
His hit single, ‘Raise the roof’, featuring Fuji music star Adewale Ayuba, shot him into limelight in 2004. He released several albums during that era – ‘Boiling Point released in 2004 and produced by the legendary Kennis Music of Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye. The same record label that made 2Baba a global brand.
In 2007, he released ‘Mr Funky’ produced by Storm Records. By 2008 he had floated his record label Jazzman Olofin Entertainment (JOE). It was under the JOE imprint he released ‘Fire’ in 2008 and ‘Ready 2 Go’ in 2010. He released ‘Life Story’ in 2011 under 51 Lex (S360) Records. He is a close ally of late ace producer Babatunde Okungbowa aka OJB Jezreel who died of kidney disease in 2016.
The last time fans heard from him was in 2016 when he released a single ‘Shade’, the song didn’t garner much attention from music fans like his previous singles in the early 2000s. In 2016 he also declared in an interview with The Punch that his music career is not dead.
“Those people who post hate comments and say things like my career is dead are people who do not believe in themselves. Some of them have dead careers and they feel that whatever happens to them should happen to me. For you to say a person’s career is dead must mean that you are having a messed up life,” he said.
“Even if my career is dead, what is more important is that I have contributed something in this world and when I am long gone, people would still dance to my songs,” Jazzman Olofin added.
Whether the career is dead or active, it is clear that Jazzman is no longer fans favourite like he was during his hay days.