William Onyeabor self-released a series of records in Nigeria between 1977 and 1985, then largely abandoned music and refused for years to explain much about how those recordings had been made.
That silence contributed to the mythology, but the music itself is more interesting than the mystery.
Onyeabor’s records combine long-form funk grooves, electronic keyboards, drum machines, repetition and synthesizer lines that can sound surprisingly close to later synth-pop and electro. Luaka Bop eventually spent years licensing and reintroducing his catalogue internationally. The label itself notes that many biographical claims surrounding Onyeabor were difficult to verify, which is a useful warning against allowing the legend to replace what can actually be heard.
What fascinates me is how awkwardly the music fits familiar histories of electronic pop.
We are often given a tidy geographical story: experimental electronics in Europe, disco in the United States, synth-pop emerging from particular Western cities.
Then a record from Enugu appears and the map becomes less convenient.
The synthesizer was never owned by one musical culture.
Once electronic instruments began travelling, musicians everywhere could discover uses their manufacturers had never imagined.
Music history becomes much more interesting when the lines stop moving only from the usual centres outward.
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