Salawa Abeni: Biography, all you need to know
Salawa Abeni was born on May 5, 1961. She is an Ijebu Yoruba from Ijebu Waterside in Ogun State.
Growing up, she only got elementary school training, because her father did not believe in training women.
Since the 1970s, Abenihas been recognized as a modernizer and leader of the women’s vocal and percussion style known as ‘Waka’ which is closely related to ‘Juju’, ‘Apala’ and ‘Fuji’ which are its male dominated counterpart.
‘Waka’ is an Islamic-influenced, traditional Yoruba music.
When Abeni was 10 years old, she walked into the Lagos branch of the Local Leader Recording Label and requested to be allowed to play a demo tape.
The producer thinking it was a joke, put her tape on his desk and promptly forgot about it, only to be plunked down to reality on hearing the same 10...