Pioneer: Orlando Julius and The Heliocentrics with "Buje Buje"

Today's random song comes from artist Orlando Julius of Nigeria. Julius is known as an innovator and a crucial personage in the development of modern afro-pop. In the 1960s, he was fusing traditional Nigerian music with American R&B, pop and soul. In the United States, he collaborated with such artists as Lamont Dozier, the Crusaders and Hugh Masekela. His 1966 breakout album, Super Afro Soul, was ahead of its time and possibly influenced the development of funk that was about to sweep over the United States. It also made him a superstar in his native Nigeria where he released a long string of records. However, he was relatively unknown internationally until the re-release of Super Afro Soul in 2000. In 2014 the Heliocentrics, a London-based collective that fuses funk, jazz and hip hop, brought Julius to their studio and backed him on his latest album that consisted of vintage, never before heard tunes and new compositions. This funk/R&B song, Buje Buje, is from that 2014 release entitled Jaiyede Afro.