All Hail To The Chief

Some vintage Nigerian highlife music for you tonight, courtesy of the late Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe.

The Chief enjoyed a career of over forty years before sadly passing away in 2007. If the website 'Nigerian Biography' is to be believed, in his youth "he was nicknamed 'Doctor of Hypertension' by music critics and fans alike" - presumably because he induced it in his audience rather than because he was prone to abdominal aortic aneurysms while performing. Let us hope so anyway.

Today's selections were recorded in 1968 and 1977 respectively. "Mr Dictative" suggests that the Chief was not a man overly bothered by trivialities such as spelling.

"Mr Dictative" - Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe

"Ogo Di Nkpa" - Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe

It has been quite a while since we featured music in this particular style, so it's good to be - wait for it, wait for it - back in the highlife again.