Eko Hot Blog Salutes Waka Queen At 60

It is almost impossible to talk about Waka Music in Nigeria without a mention of Queen Salawa Abeni Alidu, the Waka Queen whose revolutionary works will continue to set the benchmark as far as that genre of African music goes.

Salawa Abeni Alidu, whose ancestry can be traced to Epe Division of Lagos State, was born on May 5, 1961. She began her professional career in waka music when she released her debut album titled, Late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, in 1976, on Leader Records. It became the first recording by a female artist in Yoruba Songs to sell over a million copies in Nigeria.

She was crowned “Queen of Waka Music” by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi in 1992. Waka is an Islamic-influenced, traditional Yoruba music style, popularized by Batile Alake; it is a much older genre than jùjú and fuji.

During a 2020 interview with Channels Television, the Waka Queen, who made an early breakthrough into the music industry credited her interest in music to the inspiring works of King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey. She also narrated how she had to overcome numerous daunting challenges to achieve tremendous success in the industry.