Majek Fashek
For many Nigerians born in the 80s and 90s, any music playlist would be incomplete without at least one or two tracks from famous musician, Majek Fashek, who was a trailblazer in the Nigerian- reggae music scene.
Today we celebrate a talented singer, songwriter and instrumentalist who was one of the first musicians in Nigeria to attain international acclaim. He was one of the original Nigerian artists to be drawn to the music of the Caribbean, specifically reggae. To carve a niche for himself, he incorporated indigenous genres such as Fuji and Juju into his own style of music which he called “Kpangolo”.
Majek Fashek was born as Majekodunmi Fasheke to an Edo mother and an Ijesha father. Majek Fashek was introduced to music from a young age, as he joined the choir at his local Aladura church as a child. There, he learned how to play the trumpet and guitar while composing songs for the choir.
Going by the stage name “Rajesh Kanal”, his professional music career started in the early 80s with the group called Jastix with musicians McRoy Gregg and Black Rice. The trio soon gained popularity as the in-house band on the NTA Benin show, “Music Panorama”, and toured with fellow reggae group The Mandators. Shortly after the group disbanded in 1988, Fashek now going by the name Majek Fashek began his successful solo career by releasing his debut album “Prisoner of Conscience”. He quickly became Nigeria’s top reggae artist after his song “Send Down The Rain” became the most popular song of the year. He went on to win six PMAN awards for “Song of the Year”, “Album of the Year”, and “Reggae Artist of the Year”, among others.
In the early 1990s, Fashek released the hit song “So Long Too Long” under CBS Nigeria Records. The song went on to be a worldwide hit, as it was included on Putumayo World Music’s first album and was performed in front of live audiences from around the globe.
Today, Majek Fashek is revered as one of the pioneers of reggae music in Nigeria, and Africa as a whole. He is an inspiration to the new generation of younger artistes and we are honoured to have been part of his journey.