At an Igbo wedding, burial or chieftaincy celebration, sooner or later the guitar comes on: bright, rolling, endlessly looping. Nine times out of ten, it is Oliver De Coque.
Oliver De Coque was born Oliver Sunday Akanite on 14 April 1947 in Ezinifite, in what is now Anambra State, Nigeria. Over a career of four decades, he became one of the most prolific recording artists in Africa and the leading figure in Igbo highlife.
The name
As a young man, Akanite loved draughts, the board game known in Igbo as okwe, and he rarely lost. Friends called him the game master, and he adapted that into a stage name: Oliver De Ka Okwe. Over time the spelling changed to De Coque, which sounded the same and looked more stylish.
The sound
De Coque’s guitar style blended Igbo traditional rhythms with the fast, sweet guitar lines of Congolese music, which was hugely popular in West Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. His band’s name, the Expo ’76 Ogene Sound Super of Africa, referred to the ogene, the Igbo metal gong.
The result was dance music with long, flowing guitar passages, built for parties that last all night.
Praise singing
Much of De Coque’s work followed the tradition of praise songs. He sang the names and achievements of patrons, chiefs, businessmen and community leaders, and they rewarded him generously. Recording a song in someone’s honour was a mark of status.
This made him wealthy and famous across south-eastern Nigeria, and his records sold widely in markets and motor parks.
After the war
De Coque’s rise came in the years after the Nigerian civil war ended in 1970. Igbo communities were rebuilding, and highlife music played at the weddings, funerals and festivals that returned to everyday life. His music became part of that recovery.
Recognition
He was often called the king of highlife in Nigeria and received many honours. On 14 April 2021, what would have been his 74th birthday, Google celebrated him with a doodle, introducing his music to a new generation.
His death
Oliver De Coque died on 20 June 2008, aged 61. Tributes came from musicians, politicians and fans across Nigeria and the diaspora.
Where to start
His catalogue is enormous, and many recordings circulate on cassette transfers and online uploads. A good way in is to search for his praise songs and party medleys and let them run.
The board-game champion from Ezinifite made records for people to dance to for hours, and at Igbo parties today, the DJ still rarely has to play anything else once the De Coque guitar starts.
