Sewele cover
Released

Conversations around Shina Peters’ musical career usually only center around a couple of albums, the groundbreaking and hugely successful Ace and its followup Shinamania. But for years before that Peters had been experimenting with new sounds, taking the jùjú he’d grown up with into more progressive, modern directions. The 1986 Sewele, reissued by Strut with great liner notes by Peters himself, was a pivotal point in his career, just as he started honing his Afro-juju sound that would make him a star a few years later. It’s a testament to his ability to take different styles and make them jùjú, from the Afrobeat in “Yabis” to the reggae riff on “Agbe’ere De”, a nod to Bob Marley’s “Get up Stand Up” (there’s a sneaky rip of ABBA’s “I Have a Dream” in there too). Though it may have flown under the radar when it first came out, Sewele is an absolute knockout.

Megan Iacobini de Fazio

Suggestions
Ewondo Rythm cover

Ewondo Rythm

Theodore Ondigui Onana, Orchestre Bota du Congo
World Beat cover

World Beat

Dan Del Santo
Perambulator cover

Perambulator

Egypt 80, Fela Kuti
Ebo Taylor & The Pelikans cover

Ebo Taylor & The Pelikans

Ebo Taylor & the Pelikans
Discothèque 76 cover

Discothèque 76

Bembeya Jazz National
Na Zala Zala cover

Na Zala Zala

The Congo Techno Ensemble, Rey Sapienz
Nem Kaldi cover

Nem Kaldi

Derya Yildirim, Grup Şimşek
Leon Keïta cover

Leon Keïta

Leon Keïta
Mr. Big Mouth cover

Mr. Big Mouth

Tunde Williams, Africa 70