In 1989, juju music was the sound of the Yoruba party circuit, dominated by King Sunny Adé and Ebenezer Obey. Then a younger bandleader released an album that sped everything up.
Sir Shina Peters and his International Stars released Ace (Afro-Juju Series 1) in 1989 on CBS Records in Nigeria. It went double platinum and made Shina Peters the biggest name in Nigerian music almost overnight.
What Afro-juju meant
Classic juju is built on talking drums, guitars and long, slow grooves. Shina Peters pushed the tempo up and added elements of Afrobeat, with electronic keyboards, saxophone and sharp guitar. He called the style Afro-juju.
The album was produced by Laolu Akins, and its sound was brighter and faster than much of the juju that came before it. Younger listeners who found the older style too slow took to it immediately.
The songs
Ace had twelve tracks, including “Afro-Juju”, “Ijo Shina”, “Je Kajo” and “Irawo Lagba (Ace)”. The title “Ijo Shina”, meaning Shina’s dance, gave dancers a name for what they were doing on the floor.
The songs were built for dancing, but Shina Peters also kept juju’s tradition of praise, prayer and moral advice, including a gospel-flavoured track, “Jesu Gbadura Mi”.
Awards
Ace won Shina Peters artist of the year and album of the year at the Nigerian Music Awards. For a while, it seemed every party in Lagos played it, and his shows drew huge crowds.
Shinamania
The press called the craze “Shinamania”. Shina Peters became a celebrity, and his style of dress and dance was copied. Other juju musicians began speeding up their music to keep up with him.
Where he came from
Before going solo, Shina Peters had played with the juju musician General Prince Adekunle and later worked with Segun Adewale, with whom he co-led a band. Those years taught him the juju tradition he would later shake up.
What came next
Shina Peters followed Ace with further Afro-juju albums, including Shinamania. None matched the impact of Ace, but he remained a major live performer for decades.
The record that lasted
More than thirty-five years later, “Afro-Juju” and “Ijo Shina” still get older Lagos crowds on their feet at owambe parties. For many Nigerians who were teenagers in 1989, Ace is the album that made their parents’ music exciting.
