Young Stephen Osita Osadebe loved music, but his family disapproved of music as a profession--a familiar African story, with a familiar ending. The boy ignored battled the parental ban, and left home to pursue his love, in this case, in Lagos. In 1950, the city was bustling with the new highlife sound. Although he was officially in school, Osadebe joined Stephen Amechi's highlife group as a backup singer.

In time, Osadabe became Amechi's number two man, leading the band when Amechi couldn't be there. At that point, Osadebe was so visible that word inevitably spread back to Atani, and there was trouble. Acquiescing to family pressure, he went to the Soviet Union to study, returning with a degree in trade unionism. But once home, he quickly formed his own band, Nigerian Soundmakers International. He called himself "The Consistent Highlife King," but his fans had a better name for him, "The Doctor of Hypertension," a reference to the therapeutic powers of his delicious highlife groove.

Polygram Records Nigeria signed Osadabe, and by 1975, he had released the biggest selling record in the country's history. Osondi Owendi outsold Prince Nico Mgarga's blockbuster Sweet Mother, and when Polygram closed down its Nigeria operation in the early 1990s, it stood as the only release to go Platinum in Nigeria during the company's history.

By that time, Osadabe was leading a relaxed life back in his village, Atani, going to Lagos only to perform. In 1994, he brought the band to the United States for the first time, and in one day, recorded an excellent album, his only international release to date, Kedu America. He does still visit to play concerts here, as recently as September 2001. But you have to have your ear to the ground. His American constituency remains mostly in the Nigerian enclaves of major cities. This biography is derived largely from Kedu America's liner notes, written by the album's producer, Andy Frankel.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre