“Wot U Need/Awareness” (Episode 14) Produced by Engone Endong (Gabon/Montreal)

[From Wax Poetics, written by Andrew Mason, DJ, writer, producer]

Who is Joni Haastrup?

That there are fans of the Afro-rock scene of the ’70s who are still unaware of his major contributions would probably delight the present-day Haastrup—a devout Buddhist for whom humility is a virtue.

The Haastrup of the ’70s would likely be confounded. After all, this son of a Yoruban king was the lead vocalist on Orlando Julius Ekemode’s seminal Super Afro Soul LP, considered by many to be the birthplace of the Afrobeat sound (the band also featured a certain Fela Ransome Kuti on trumpet).

By the ’70s, Haastrup was known as “Soul Brother Number One”,  a star on the West African music scene. In 1971, he was handpicked by Ginger Baker to tour Europe as part of the Air Force band, and on returning to Nigeria later that year formed the genre-defying MonoMono. The group released two nuanced LPs in 1972 and ’74, albums that have been consistently regarded as centerpieces of any Nigerian collection. In 1978, Haastrup recorded "Wake Up Your Mind", a spectacularly soulful, groovy and lyrically inspiring LP that currently fetches hundreds of dollars when an original copy makes an appearance.


Lyrix:

“Troubles everwhere is all I foresee
Troubles everywhere without any guns
Troubles everwhere is all I can see
Revolution is gonna take the scene
Because people refuse to see the truth
And only the truth can you survive
If you see the truth, and you run away
And you close your eyes against your fellow men
You kill yourself/ You sell your pride
Because you don’t know what your are inside
You see a man crying; You don’t ask him “why?”
Because you don’t know what your are inside
You see a man crying; You don’t ask him “why?”
Because all you know is just to get satisfied
You kill yourself/ You sell your pride
Because you don’t know what your are inside
Look at yourself/ Wot do you see?
It’s just you, you, and you alone
Awareness is wot you need
When you think of yourself, think of the next man
Awareness is wot you need
Discover yourself/ Discover you mind
Awareness is wot you need

Source : http://engonghitek.wordpress.com

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