Originally from Ibadan in Nigeria, but now living in London, OluDre’s music owes a lot to the two worlds he’s been a part of. His latest single, ‘Sikira’, was released on February 17.
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OluDre’s style is called “Fuji hip-hop”, and is a fusion of hip-hop and the traditional music of Ibadan, Fuji Music. Fuji itself arose from the improvisational Ajisari musical tradition, a kind of music performed to wake Muslims to pray before dawn during Ramadan. OluDre has modified it and given it an urban, London-y feel, combined with the sound that dominates the UKs capital.
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‘Sikira’ has an upbeat and enticing tune, with strong vocal melodies by OluDre and catchy rhythms. The track comes with a video illustrating the storyline of the song. The male lead is in love from afar with Sikira, a strong woman with whom he works in an office. All day long he’s thinking about Sikira; at the end of the day she leaves the office, casually giving him a wink as she goes. There’s a lot of humour in the video: The man daydreams of Sikira dancing in front of him while he’s in a shisha bar; when he comes to he realises the real life woman of his dreams has left her phone number for him.
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‘Sikira’ was produced by London-based producer AyoBeatz. It’s available to download and stream from iTunes. Find OluDre online on Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud, and YouTube.
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