Prince Ọmọ Lawal-Osula And His Royal Music Messengers Of Africa - Oru Ye Ye Ye Prince Ọmọ Lawal-Osula And His Royal Music Messengers Of Africa

A driving Edo highlife masterpiece from Benin City, Nigeria! Prince Omo Lawal-Osula and his family band layer hypnotic polyrhythms, cosmic guitar tones, and joyous call-and-response vocals across side-length medleys.

An Apala chief from Edo state, Prince Osula-Lawal drew from a musical lineage stretching back to at least the 12th century. He made dozens of records, many on his own Arala label, and almost always backed by his expansive family under various aliases - His Royal Music Messengers of Africa, His Ebonoto Sound Exponents, His Alubogie Sex Bombers.

Oru Ye Ye Ye stands out in this brilliant discography. Recorded and mixed by Sir Victor Uwaifo at Joromi Studio, Benin City’s response to the Black Ark, the record is electrifi ed by a spirit of experimentation. Heavily reverbed electric guitar rakes cut through booming walls of drums, Prince Osula’s gruff voice calling out the changes and the band responding in an instant. The album’s massive drum breaks have traveled beyond Nigeria, prized by Colombian pico sound systems along the Barranquilla coast, where one break from the A side is known as La Pipona Mafi osa.

Originally released on Prince Osula's Arala label and licensed directly from his family, remastered by Osiris Studio, pressed loud at Smashed Plastic in Chicago, featuring liner notes by DJ and archivist Dare Balogun (NTS Radio).