Nigerian filmmaker and former record label owner, Charles Novia has recounted how King Sunny Ade inspired Majek Fashek to include the talking drums to Majek Fashek’s music.
According to Novia:”There was a concert at the Apollo centre which had KSA on stage. I was there with my band to watch and we were to record the spirit of love album later that week. So my band and I went to watch KSA. Man! The sounds from KSA were bad.The drums and Juju sound crazy. So after the show, I went to meet KSA backstage. He held me and greeted me warmly.
‘You have a show’? KSA asked
‘I am recording later this week for a new album and have an international deal pending’, Majek Fashek replied.
‘Good Good’ KSA said. ‘But my brother let me advice you. You should infuse more African elements into your songs. You sing reggae, but it’s still reggae. What should make your reggae different?’ KSA pointed at the talking drum.
‘Find how to infuse our ‘gbedu’ into your reggae genre.
“Majek said that night that he could not sleep. He began rearranging his songs with talking drum notations. He and his bad rehearsed the new rhythms. When they went to the studio to record the track (Jah people) a few days later , he said when they began jamming with the drum and music, other artistes in the building ran into the studio. The rest is history. ‘So long, Too long’ album was what came out of that.”
Majek Fashek was larger than life during the heydays of his career. The ‘rain maker’ as he is fondly called In 1992, appeared on Late Night with David Letterman in support of his new 1991 album, and performed the song So Long Too Long for the television audience. Flame Tree released his Best of Majek Fashek .
He was later dropped by Interscope before moving to Mango, a division of Island Records, a label accustomed to marketing reggae internationally. His first album for the company included a cover version of Bob Marley’s popular hit, Redemption Song. He has recorded several albums for various labels since, including Rainmaker for Tuff Gong (1997) and Little Patience for Coral (2004)in 1994.
