“Chief Commander” Ebenezer Obey, the originator of  the Miliki style of juju music, a dance hall version of juju, born in Idogo (Western Nigeria) in 1942. As a child, Obey was quick to learn and understand music, and was leading his school band and church choir while still in elementary school. In 1964, he formed his first band, the International Brothers, which produced his first juju single, “Ewa Wowun Ojumi Ri.”

Obey added to the original juju template of sound by adding as many new instruments (his band could reach 20 to 30 members for any given performance, largely dependant on stage size) as he could, throwing in some funky Yoruba drumming, western electric guitars and drum kit, creating an fresh, original sound that was ahead of its time. He is famously quoted as saying “It’s like cooking a soup. If you put in many different ingredients, it tastes richer and better.” The idea of adding musicians to his ensemble was not entirely original, however. King Sunny Ade, the other great juju artist of the era—who was quicker to achieve international fame—competed with Obey not just in record sales, but over who could stage the biggest, most extravagant band.  

Lyrically, Obey used the praise song as his format, singing about Christianity or any political leader he was playing for. A traditionalist, Obey created songs that praise Christianity, and his eventual transformation into a gospel singer was perhaps inevitable.

As conservative as his lyrics were, his music was anything but traditional. Besides adding immensely to the size of his band, he extended the form of recorded juju songs to create 20-minute tracks that would take up large portions of his LPs, a song form that would be adopted by other great Nigerian artists, including Fela Kuti.

Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s, Ebenezer Obey was easily one of the most popular and well-loved musicians in Nigeria, but he would not achieve external success until the 1980 release of his album Current Affairs, which turned him into an international star.  In 1992, Obey left the secular music world, after releasing over 100 albums, for evangelism, and has been a gospel singer ever since.

Contributed by: Jake Gold