The Lijadu Sisters ~ A Twin Band From Nigeria.

I’m bringing to you all a band known as the Lijadu sisters which originated from Ibadan, Nigeria. The Lijadu sisters are not just sisters but identical twins. This twins started their music career at the age of ten and they were mostly inspired by the Rock & Soul and also Western Jazz cassettes that their mother used to buy for them when they were much younger. Also, these twin sisters are traced back to a musical background and are cousins of a prominent Afro artist in Nigeria named Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
The Lijadu sisters were musically inspired by the likes of Miriam Makeba, Aretha Franklin, Victor Olaiya and the likes.

For the Lijadu sisters, their music revolved round the Yoruba culture. These two sisters started their music career by singing as backup vocalists and they eventually released their first song in 1968, titled Iya Mi Jowo which means Mummy please in English language. They started gaining more fame and in 1969, they got signed into a record label named Decca records. Their career continued to grow well when Ginger Baker, an American drummer invited them on his tour and they performed with the Ginger’s band. That tour made the Lijadu sisters gain worldwide fame in 1970.

They both had a breakdown when one of the sisters fell of the stairs which caused them over twenty years of break and they rejected other interviews and jobs because they wanted to keep their issues private. When things got sorted, they were signed into a new record label known as Knitting Factory Records and there, they released all their four albums from 1970.
In some of their songs, the twins made it known that they practiced the Ifa religion which is the traditional religion here in Nigeria.

Did they spilt?
No they didn’t. One of them died of breast cancer on November 8th, 2019. The other still resides in New York till today.
Let’s listen to some of their songs.

Amebo

This is a Nigerian slang and it is mostly used for anyone or people who don’t mind their business. It’s an interesting song so let’s listen.

I love the rhymes and I love how one of the parted the song. In a nutshell, if you don’t know about something, don’t say it.

Osupa

This song was released in 1977 under the Decca record label. Osupa means the moon. Here, they compared the complexion of a white man to the moon because his skin is so bright.

The song was sang in Yoruba language and has some Yoruba vibes in it.

Bayi L’ense

This song was basically released to unite Africa. The Lijadu sisters wanted to make sure that Africa as a whole lives in unity and harmony.

That was the aim of that song.

With these three songs I have shared about the Lijadu sisters, I’m sure you can tell what other songs of theirs will sound like. From my findings, I realized that they sometimes sing about what they feel of the government and the likes just like their cousin, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Let’s have two more of their songs to round up this fun.

Sunshine

Orere Ejigbo

That’s all about the Lijadu sisters. See you next time!