Nigerians woke up to the rude shock of the passing of one of the country’s greatest artistes in her contemporary history. Olanrewaju Abdul Ganiyu Fasasi, popularly known as “Sound Sultan” passed on in the US State of New Jersey on June 11, 2021 after a brave battle with throat cancer.
While news of his illness had been unknown to millions of people, his creativity, sterling act and impactful lyrics could be likened to a 7-course menu that those same fans and admirers had savoured for the almost two decades that were blessed by his very successful musical career.
At a time when musicians composed and released commercial music, Sound Sultan wrote songs that either mirrored society, or directly spoke truth to power—and he was widely accepted and hugely successful! He was as comfortable chastising the power elite as he was admonishing ordinary folk to embrace good values. In “Mathematics,” the song that unarguably shot him into limelight, Sultan waxed didactic to our continent’s rulers as he advanced a panacea for taking the continent of Africa out of the doldrums. Mathematics, he sang, was the way out of our “jagbajantis” (a Yoruba euphemism for an intricate rough patch—which aptly described the state our continent was in), but only by applying BODMAS (‘B’ for brotherhood; ‘O’ for objectivity; ‘D’ for democracy; ‘M’ for modification; ‘A’ for accountability; ‘S’ for solidarity). Indeed, if we embraced Sultan’s version of the Bodmas formula, Africa would be on its way out of the quagmire she has found herself.
In “Bushmeat,” a song that critics agree was way ahead of its time, Sultan warns political leaders that a time will come when the hunter will become the hunted. Indeed, the masses of our people who were bearing the brunt of their misrule would rise to fight back. It did happen, typified by the Arab Spring, the #Blacklives Matter movement, the #EndSARS campaign etc. “Ole” is the Yoruba word for a thief. He likens the pervasive abuse of power by those entrusted with it to stealing (which also takes place within the framework of an overall abuse of power) the commonwealth and future of the people, interjecting the song with semi-chants of “Ole” to infuse power into the message he transmitted.
In “Ajo o da bi ile,’’ (an alien land is no better than home), Sultan warns those who have travelled in search of greener pastures to remember that family and friends suffered to raise money to fund their travel and to therefore not forget to repay such favour and indeed, ultimately to remain connected to their roots and better still, return home. That song came at a time it was fashionable for many to leave the shores of Nigeria. Interestingly, in what confirms the prophetic nature of his songs, we would witness the great migration into Europe about a decade later as many took unprecedented risks, sometimes trekking through the vast Sahara or taking flight on rickety boats on the Mediterranean sea as they fled conflict and economic woes to try and find peace and succor in Europe and the North America.
Sound Sultan sang in a mixture of Yoruba, Pidgin English and English languages in a masterful, seamless fashion that accentuated the sanctity of his message. He was a good guitarist, composer and arranger. He mentored younger artistes, contributed to raising newer stars in the industry and deserves credit for being one of the pioneers of “Afrobeat” that has today become the dominant music genre out of Nigeria to the whole wide world.
According to Kenny Ogungbe, CEO of the famous Kennis Music

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