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All Music Guide:
One of the more popular acts in the Nigerian music scene of the 1970s, the Lijadu Sisters produced a handful of albums showcasing their tight harmonies and inventive incorporation of synthesizers and modern pop forms into funky Afro-beat grooves. Twins Taiwo and Kehinde were born in the northern Nigeria town of Jos on October 22, 1948. Second cousins of Fela Kuti, the two girls were drawn to music at a very early age, listening to records, singing, and writing songs together from their early childhood into their teenage years. Beginning as backing vocalists for studio sessions, the sisters eventually released a single under their own name, 1968's Iya Mi Jowo. In 1971, still working as session singers, the sisters met Cream/Africa 70 drummer Ginger Baker, and Taiwo and Baker soon started dating. The twins performed with Baker's band Salt at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games before the relationship fizzled out.
With the assistance of multi-instrumentalist and producer Biddy Wright, the Lijadu Sisters would make four albums for Decca's Afrodisia imprint: 1976's Danger, 1977's Mother Africa, 1978's Sunshine, and 1979's Horizon Unlimited. These vibrant collisions of pop, reggae, and Afro-beat influences defined the sisters' unique hybrid sound and rocketed them to immense popularity in Nigeria, as well as gaining them the attention of a broader audience internationally. Throughout the '80s, their reach grew overseas, including appearances on British television and a repackaging of earlier songs in the form of U.S. label Shanachie's 1984 collection Double Trouble, as well as numerous visits to the States for performances. By 1988 the sisters had relocated permanently to Brooklyn, with several offers of record deals on the table. Nothing panned out with any of these offers, however, and the two shifted gradually from a focus on music to deepening their practice of their Yoruba religion and the herbal remedies related to it.
In 1996, Kehinde suffered severe spinal injuries as the result of a fall down a flight of stairs. Recovery was long and painful, and all efforts formerly put toward creative endeavors were redirected to overcoming Kehinde's medical issues. In the years that followed, the sisters stayed out of the public eye completely, turning down all interviews and other press requests. Several of the duo's tracks popped up in the 2000s, including "Life's Gone Down Low," which appeared on a Luaka Bop compilation and was also sampled without clearance by New York rapper Nas. In the early part of the 2010s, after rejecting many labels seeking to reissue their work, the Lijadu Sisters agreed to work with Knitting Factory Records. The N.Y.C. label re-released all four of the sisters' classic late-'70s Afro-beat albums, and though it had been decades since their last public performances, plans were made for the sisters' return to the stage in 2012.
Wikipedia:
The Lijadu Sisters, Taiwo and Kehinde Lijadu, are identical twin sisters from Nigeria who were an important music duet from the mid-1960s to the 1980s. They achieved success in Nigeria and had modest influence in the United States and Europe. They were notable for being a West African version of the Pointer Sisters who mixed Afrobeat sounds with jazz and disco, according to one source. Since the late 1980s, they retired from the music scene.
Career [edit]
The twins grew up in the Nigerian town of Ibadan, and were inspired musically by various artists including Aretha Franklin, Victor Olaiya and Miriam Makeba. They had guidance from music producer Lemmy Jackson who is credited with helping them with their early successes. Their music was a mix of Jazz, Afrobeat, Reggae and Waka. Sometimes they sung in English and other times in African languages. One of their first songs was arranged with assistance from jazz saxophone player Orlando Julius. They released their first album Iya Mi Jowo in 1969 after winning a record contract with Decca Records. They worked with the late Biddy Wright on their third album Danger (1976). They recorded Sunshine in 1978 and Horizon Unlimited in 1979.
The sisters were top stars in Nigeria during the 1970s and 1980s. During these years, they branched out to America and Europe and found modest success. They performed with drummer Ginger Baker's band Salt at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in Munich at the World Music Festival. The New York Times reported that the sisters were "smiling free spirits" who mixed "sisterly banter and flirtatiousness" in their performances which featured positive messages such as the benefit of returning home. Their reggae number Reincarnation insisted that if reincarnation was a reality, then they would like to be reincarnated again into the home where they grew up. Some of their song lyrics were politically themed. Their harmonies were described as "ethereal".
In 1984 Shanachie Records released Double Trouble in the U.S. which was a compilation of their previously recorded material from their albums Horizon Unlimited and Danger. Their song Orere Eljigbo was included on a double CD entitled Nigeria 70, Africa 100, and was added to the Roots & Wings playlist in 1997.
The sisters moved to Brooklyn. They performed in various venues including the lower Manhattan club Wetlands and in Harlem with King Sunny Adé's African Beats as their backing band. They performed with the Philadelphia-based band Philly Gumbo. They were featured in the music documentary Konkombé by English director Jeremy Marre, and their music was featured in the Nigerian installment of the 14-episode world music series entitled Beats of the Heart which aired on PBS during the late 1980s.
Soon after settling in America they retired from the public eye, making details of their career in entertainment difficult to confirm, since the twins no longer gave interviews.
