15th September, 2024
By Nehru Odeh
The likes of Nigerian-born Afro-rock artiste Joni Haastrup are rare, what with his groundbreaking achievements on the global music scene as well as the innovations he brought to it.
The music legend, who wrote on his LinkedIn profile that his entire life “is dedicated to making people happy”, passed on peacefully in Oakland, California, United States on September 3, 2024. He was aged 76.
The story of Haastrup’s musical trajectory is the stuff of dreams. Not only was he one of the pioneers of Afrobeat, working closely with Fela Anikulapo Kuti, his life defined not just the rise of that genre but also the emergence of African music as a strong force in the world.
Still, an intriguing thing about Haastrup, whose grandfather was the traditional ruler of Ijeshaland, is that he started out singing spot-on covers of James Brown and Wilson Pickett in Lagos bars in the mid-1960s.
But with his own band, MonoMono, he became part of a movement to fuse soul, funk and rock with African music.
Still, despite his achievements, Haastrup, a practicing Buddhist, was too humble to a fault.
It is for this and many other reasons that his family, friends and colleagues have decided to celebrate this musical genius who lived a quite life despite his gargatuan achievements till his demise in the United States.
“We invite you to celebrate the life of oni Haastrup , a cherished SGI member who peacefully passed away on September 3, 2024 at the age of 76.
“Joni was a devoted practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism in the San Antonio Fruitvale District, Macarthur Village Chapter, Oakland Region. He is fondly remembered as a legendary musical artist, performer and a pioneering force for Kosen Rufu, ” the statement reads.
According to the statement, two events, a Memorial Ceremony as well as Celebration of Life will be held in his honour the same day at different times and venues on September 21, 2024 in the United States.
The Memorial Ceremony will hold at 2pm at the Oakland Buddhist Centre in Oakland, California, while the Celebration of Life will hold at 4pm at Hardley Louden’s house, Cragmont Avenue, Berkeley CA.
Haastrup, a vocalist and band leader, started his musical journey performing for his brothers’ band, Sneakers.
“I decided I was going to be a musician when I started seeing the highlife bands, when I saw the way they dressed. They dressed so nice and clean. Victor Olaiya’s Allstars International were my inspiration as a boy. I had my first job as a musician in 1964.
“My brother started a rock ‘n’ roll band in Akure. He was working for the minister of agriculture. He was in a school of agriculture. He started learning guitar in 1961, and in 1964 he became a really good guitar player. And so he started a band called the Sneakers, ” Haastrup said in an interview
He later became the lead vocalist on Orlando Julius Ekemode’s seminal Super Afro Soul LP, considered by many to be the birthplace of Afrobeat. Haastrup also played with legends such as Victor Olaiya and Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Haastrup also revealed how he became Fela’s friend and started playing in his club.
“The first time I asked Fela if I could sing with his band, he looked at me and said, “Joni Haastrup, I know you are a big star in the soul music world. You can’t sing with my band. You can’t sing my songs with my band because you don’t understand jazz.” And I said to him, “Fela, try me. Because I’ve got the best ears in the world for music. I can hear every note that everybody plays in every band that I’m with.” And so he took a whole week to think about it.
“The next weekend, I went back to the club, and I asked him the same question again. And he said OK, “Joni Haastrup, nobody sings my songs with my band. But because you say you want to, I want to hear you. I will call you on stage. Sing one of my songs with my band, and show me what you can do.” That’s how I got it.
“And so he called me on stage. I went to do one of his new songs with his band. He sat back and listened and he was sold. He couldn’t believe it. He could not believe it. He talked to the audience about me and everything, and from that day, every night I went to his club, he called me on stage. That’s how I became Fela’s friend.
At the beginning of the 1970’s the rise of Afro- Centric Consciousness started making bands fuse African elements into what had been throughout the 60’s mere imitations of western groups.
The then iconic rock drummer Ginger Baker came to Nigeria in the early 70’s and recruited Haastrup, known then as “Soul Brother Number One”, whom he saw performing at a nightclub in Lagos into his Airfoce band to tour Europe and America.
On his return Haastrup was inspired to try something new and original and the Afro Funk scene was born. He formed the genre-defying MonoMono band in Lagos. The group released two nuanced LPs in 1972 and ’74, albums that have been consistently regarded as centerpieces of any Nigerian collection.
Haastrup brought a wealth of musical ideas back to Lagos with him. He also brought tough new insights about how the world really worked. English bureaucracy had at times made Haastrup who came from a royal family in Ilesha, Nigeria, feel like a beggar. And that was what inspired MonoMono’s first big hit, “Give the Beggar a Chance.”
The song opens with a dreamy, psychedelic vamp, juxtaposed with the familiar cry of a beggar, pleading for help on the streets of Lagos. Give the Beggar a Chance is a masterful fusion of African rhythms, soul angst and cutting-edge UK rock — all in the air in the Lagos of ’70. But nobody did it like this.
In 1978, Haastrup recorded his debut solo album, Wake Up Your Mind, a spectacularly soulful, groovy and lyrically inspiring for the Afrodesia imprint. Laced with funk basslines, swirling keyboards and screaming guitars, it was Haastrup most ‘western’ record. Itvwas also at the same time unmistakably of an African origin.
From the slow-motion disco of ‘Greetings’ to the stone cold groove of ‘Watch Out’ to the Rueben Wilson style funk of ‘Free My People’ Joni was soaking up the sounds of the times and blending them with the music of his roots.
“My objective as a performing artist is to give my all to make my object feel joy as they watch me and listen to my music. My entire life is dedicated to making people happy, ” Haastrup wrote in his LinkedIn profile.
And that indeed sums up a life dedicated not just to making music but also to making people happy. He will indeed be sorely missed.
