Description
Gnonnas Pedro’s “Mo Ngbadun Re” - a song written to pay tribute to Nigerian and Beninese musicians - would change the trajectory of Analog Africa, forever.
And while the Nigerian artists were more or less familiar to Samy (the label founder), obscurity was his destiny when Gnonnas began singing about Picoby, Renova, Annasoua Jazz, Super Borgou, Super Star, El Rego, Black Santiago and other bands from Benin. The conclusion of this musical experience was that if a star like Gnonnas Pedro sang about these bands it could only mean that he knew something that we didn’t. Could it be that the Benin Republic had more to offer than its size suggested? There was only one way to find out. Samy arrived in Cotonou in August of 2005 and that´s how a Gnonnas Pedro song brought Analog Africa to Benin, and the rest is history.
While 4 songs by this magnificent artiste were included in the compilation Legends of Benin from 2009, this time Analog Africa has the huge honour to present a full and deserved project about Gnonnas Pedro, the king of Modern Agbadja. Very early in his career our friend had landed his first hit with a song called ‘Dadje Von O Von Non’. It was an Agbadja, an ancestral rhythm played during burial ceremonies in Le Mono, the region where Gnonnas Pedro’s family came from. Gnonnas adapted, modernised and coined it ‘Agbadja Modern’ and that's how he became known and beloved as ‘Roi de l’Agbadja Moderne’.
Almost a decade later, in the mid-70s, Gnonnas secured a deal with African Songs Ltd and later with Take Your Choice (TYC), two labels out of Nigeria. At that period Gnonnas had been recording and performing for a decade, and while a few of the original band members had left, the majority of the musicians had stayed with him. The relatively consistent membership of ‘Les Dadjes’ meant that they had developed into a well-oiled groove machine by the time the ‘Nigerian years’ began. The various masterpieces the band recorded between 1975 and 1980 in Lagos catapulted Gnonnas Pedro to superstardom back home in Benin, but also made him a name in other West African countries, where his songs were regularly broadcast on the national airwaves. Sometimes called ‘The Band That Speaks All African Languages’ for their ability to perform songs in numerous languages ‘Les Dadjes’ also spoke all kinds of rhythms, with a special emphasis on Cuban and Benin rhythms.
Around 1980, Gnonnas fulfilled the lifelong dream of starting his own label and one of the first albums on the newly founded Gnoinsopé label included the track ‘Yiri Yiri Boum’, which took Benin by storm and cemented Gnonnas as one of the country’s most important artists.
The double-LP ‘Roi De L'Agbadja Moderne 1974-1983’ from Analog Africa comes as a Gatefold with a full-color 8-page booklet including photos. Featuring 16 of Gnonnas’ finest songs that resonated across the African continent, the unique blend of Agbadja, Cuban fon, jerk, highlife, and other African rhythms sung in Fon, Mina, Yoruba, French, English, and even Spanish offers a truly unique musical journey.