Sunday, July 8, 2012

Try it: Siji - Ijo


London born singer-songwriter and producer Siji has been making a name for himself in the music industry since his 1996 debut. He's able to play piano, percussion and bass guitar. His influences include R&B titans Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and Otis Redding, as well as the rhythmic patterns and instruments of the West African ethnic group Yoruba in which he's a native. 

In October 2011 Siji hooked up with DJ and music producer Alix Alvarez to release various remixes of the Afro House track "Ijo"which means "dance" in Yoruba. The track is just what your MP3 player needs. If you're not familiar with Siji and you're just now discovering his music, "Ijo" is a great place to start.

It's always a good sign when the first beat of a record makes you wanna get up and dance. Everything about this track is accessible; there's no need for anything to grow on you here. The bumping rhythm is familiar House music territory. Siji's chants, spoken in Yoruba, give the record a nice touch without overshadowing the music or making you think too hard about a message.

For the music video, Siji pays homage to his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria where he is rediscovering his roots after growing up in London and working on his music career in the U.S. It has a cameo appearance by Yinka Davies who won the Voice of the Decade Award at the Nigeria Music Awards in 2007, among others.

You can watch the video here.

Siji gave his fans a walkthrough of his hometown in this Youtube video. Be sure to feed your mp3 player some Siji tracks when you get a chance if you haven't already.