Yorùbá music is regarded as one of the more important components of the modern
Nigerian popular music scene. Although traditional Yoruba music was not influenced by foreign music the same cannot be said of modern-day Yoruba music which has evolved and adapted itself through contact with foreign instruments, talents and creativity. Interpretation involves rendering
African, here Yoruba, musical expression using a mixture of instruments from different horizons. Yoruba music traditionally centred on folklore and spiritual/deity worship, utilising basic and natural instruments such as clapping of the hands. Playing music for a living was not something the Yorubas did and singers were referred to in a derogatory term of
Alagbe, it is this derogation of musicians that made it not appeal to modern Yoruba at the time. Although, it is true that music genres like the
highlife played by musicians like
Rex Lawson,
Ebenezer Obey Segun Bucknor,
Bobby Benson, etc.,
Fela Kuti's
Afrobeat and
King Sunny Adé's
jùjú are all Yoruba adaptations of foreign music. These musical genres have their roots in large metropolitan cities like
Lagos,
Ibadan, and
Port Harcourt where people and culture mix influenced by their rich culture. Some pioneering
Jùjú musicians include
Tunde King,
Tunde Nightingale, Why Worry in Ondo and
Ayinde Bakare, Dr. Orlando Owoh,
Dele Ojo, Ik Dairo
Moses Olaiya (Baba Sala).
Sakara played by the pioneers such as
Ojo Olawale in
Ibadan,
Abibu Oluwa,
Yusuf Olatunji,
Sanusi Aka,
Saka Layigbade.
Apala, is another genre of Yoruba modern music which was played by spirited pacesetters such as
Haruna Ishola,
Sefiu Ayan,
Ligali Mukaiba,
Kasumu Adio, Yekini (Y.K.) Ajadi, etc.
Fuji, which emerged in the late 60s/early 70s, as an offshoot of
were/
ajisari music genres, which were made popular by certain
Ibadan singers/musicians such as the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister,
Alhaji Dauda Epo-Akara and Ganiyu Kuti or "Gani Irefin. Another popular genre is
waka music played and popularized by
Alhaja Batile Alake and, more recently,
Salawa Abeni,
Kuburat Alaragbo, Asanat Omo-Aje, Mujidat Ogunfalu, Misitura Akawe, Fatimo
Akingbade, Karimot Aduke, and Risikat Abeawo. In both
Ibadan (Nigeria's largest city), and
Lagos (Nigeria's most populous city), these multicultural traditions were brought together and became the root of Nigerian popular music. ==Musical instruments==