A two-time Grammy award winner, Sikiru Adepoju has released his debut album titled “Ope” under Mansmark Records. Ope means gratitude in Nigerian Yoruba language
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Sikiru Adepoju born on Nov 10, 1950 is a US based percussionist and recording artist. His genre of music is African traditional music and world music (Akpala).
The said album features the multi talented artist band called “Riddim Doctors”. The album consist of 9 tracks.
According to Prince Ayo Manuel Ajisebutu, founder of Mansmark records , “the unwavering determination of Sikiru Adepoju continually supported by his friends of many years, Val Serrant, is beyond measure” .
.Prince Manuel added that ” Sikiru’s stubbornness about giving birth to his dreams, no matter how long it took, should be looked to for inspiration by anyone that dares to raise themselves higher”.
He further said that ” the lifeblood of the album is to elevate people’s spirits and ignite the essence of OPE in the listener. When the spirit of OPE is awakened in you, you will see the good in every situation. Embracing the spirit of OPE, gratitude can reduce most of the tensions in our lives as we transform into better and more loving human beings…..” .
The album featured musicians such as Babatunde Olatunji, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Rashida Clendening, OZ Ezzeldin, Bola Abimbola, Lindsey Schust, Paul El shaddai, Sammy Fayoseh, Jeff Chienti, Jay Lane and Dave Schools.
These musicians are vocalist,drummers, keyboardist, bassist etc.
Sikiru’s first exposure to international music was when he went to America to play with O.J Ekemide’s Nigerian All stars.
Born into a family of drummers, in 1991 and 2009, he won Grammy awards with Mickey Hart’s group, “Planet Drum” and “Global Drum project” respectively. The category in which he won on the two occasions was “Best contemporary World music”.
In a virtual interview on Channels Entertainment News, Sikiru disclosed that over there, a band member is at liberty to start a project of his or her own when they are not touring or working on any project.
According to him, he saw this as an opportunity to give life to his life long dream. He created a group ” Riddim Doctor” and as one can see, the rest is history.
Riddim Doctors comprises of Sikiru, Saminu his brother, Peter Fuji, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ian Herman, Femi Oyetunde, Douglas Val Serrant and Richard Nayen.
Obviously, this talented recording artist and percussionist is doing Nigeria and by extension Africa proud.
We at Akatarian hope to see and hear more of his success story.
