PROFILE: The First Nigerian To Release A Music Album

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By Victor Olubiye




MEET THE FIRST NIGERIAN TO RELEASE A MUSIC ALBUM — CANON JOSIAH RANSOME-KUTI.

While singing is as old as culture itself and no one can truly be called the first Nigerian singer, the first Nigerian to release a recorded music album was a remarkable Yoruba man: Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti—the grandfather of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti and great-grandfather of Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka.


Ransome-Kuti began composing gospel songs as early as 1878, writing hymns for the Anglican Church in Abeokuta. He was a trailblazer in using indigenous Yoruba language and melodies in Christian worship music. His compositions became anthems in St. Peter's Cathedral Church, Ake, Abeokuta.


On August 4, 1921, he released what is now regarded as Nigeria’s first-ever music album. The original recordings, produced on shellac discs, are preserved at the British Museum—a legacy that connects Nigeria’s musical heritage to its colonial and cultural past.


Canon Ransome-Kuti was not just a clergyman but a musical visionary who laid the foundation fo




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