Fuji music is dying — Small Doctor

Nigerian singer Adekunle Temitope, popularly known as Small Doctor, has expressed concern over the decline of the indigenous Yoruba music genre, fuji.

Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the singer lamented what he described as a lack of growth in the genre, noting that no major Fuji artist has emerged since the rise of Remi Aluko and others in the early 2000s.

“I stand to be corrected. I feel Fuji music is dying, and something needs to be fixed urgently. After the blowing up of Remi Aluko and the likes in 2001 or 2002, I haven’t heard nor seen another Fuji artist blow up,” he wrote.

Fuji music, which originated in the 1960s from the Ramadan wéré (ajísari) tradition of early-morning Islamic devotional songs, was formally named by its pioneer, the late Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, who was inspired by Japan’s Mount Fuji.

The genre gained mainstream appeal with legendary acts like K1 De Ultimate, King Saheed Osupa, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, and Obesere shaping its evolution.

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