Oyibo Rebel | |
---|---|
Birth name | Fares Boulos |
Also known as | Farastafarian |
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Origin | Lagos, Nigeria |
Genres | |
Instrument | vocals |
Years active | 2012–present |
Fares Boulos, known professionally as Oyibo Rebel, is an American musician and actor based in Lagos, Nigeria. He has released music blending Afrobeats and rap with Yoruba influences. He is the brother of Michael Boulos.
Fares Boulos was born in Houston, Texas. His Lebanese father, Massad Boulos, is a business executive active in Nigeria, while his French mother, Sarah Boulos, founded the Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN). [1] [2] [3] At the age of five, Boulos moved with his family to Lagos, Nigeria, where he attended the American International School of Lagos alongside his siblings. [1] [3]
Boulos described moving to Lagos as a culture shock. He learned Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba and engaged with local customs during his formative years. [1] [4] He later pursued higher education in Los Angeles, California, where he studied liberal arts with a concentration in theatre. Following this, he moved to London to complete a master’s degree, focusing on acting and performance. [1] [3]
Boulos began exploring music during his teenage years, inspired by Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. In Lagos, he attended events at the New Afrika Shrine and performed Fela’s songs during informal gatherings. [1] During his time in Los Angeles, he wrote and performed a play titled Abami Eda and The Curse of The Black Gold, in which he portrayed multiple characters, including Fela Kuti. [1]
In London, Boulos participated in acting projects, including an uncredited role in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald [2] and a brief non-speaking role in the Netflix series The Crown . [3]
In 2012, Boulos returned to Nigeria and released a single titled "One Day" under the stage name Farastafarian. [1] [4] This name, derived from his interactions with Rastafarian communities at Tarkwa Bay in Lagos, was later changed to Oyibo Rebel. The new stage name reflected his intention to challenge stereotypes about immigrants in Nigeria and highlight his connection to the culture. [1] [3]
Under the name Oyibo Rebel, Boulos released the single "Oju Mi Bloody," featuring Mz Kiss and Chinko Ekun. His music combines elements of Afrobeats, rap, and Yoruba influences. He worked with Nigerian producers T-Weezy and Killertunes to create tracks that incorporate both Nigerian and global musical styles. [1] [3]
Boulos considers Nigeria his home. [3] He is married to Alisa Boulos. [4] His brother Michael Boulos is a business executive married to American socialite Tiffany Trump. [3]
Afrobeat is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian and Ghanaian music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion, the style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who popularised it both within and outside Nigeria. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers."
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Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì was a Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers". AllMusic described him as "a musical and sociopolitical voice" of international significance.
Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian and French drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived". Later in life, Allen collaborated with Damon Albarn on several projects, including Gorillaz, the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon.
Yoruba music is the pattern/style of music practiced by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. It is perhaps best known for its extremely advanced drumming tradition and techniques, especially using the gongon hourglass shape tension drums. Yoruba folk music became perhaps the most prominent kind of West African music in Afro-Latin and Caribbean musical styles; it left an especially important influence on the music used in Santería practice and the music of Cuba.
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Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, singer and the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80.
Lemi Ghariokwu, also known simply as Lemi, is a Nigerian painter, illustrator and designer who is most renowned for providing many of the original cover images for the recordings of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.
Fela! is a jukebox musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It portrays Kuti in the days when he was the target of 1,000 government soldiers assigned to end his public performances at the legendary Lagos nightclub The Shrine.
Victor Abimbola Olaiya, , also known as Dr Victor Olaiya, was a Nigerian trumpeter who played in the highlife style. Though famous in Nigeria during the 1950s and early 1960s, Olaiya received little recognition outside his native country. Alhaji Alade Odunewu of the Daily Times called him "The Evil Genius of Highlife."
Gbedu literally means "big drum" and is a percussion instrument traditionally used in ceremonial Yoruba music in Nigeria and Benin. More recently, the word has come to be used to describe forms of Nigerian Afrobeats music.
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Confusion is a 1975 album by Nigerian Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti and his Africa 70 band. It was arranged, composed, and produced by Kuti, who recorded the album after choosing to emphasize his African heritage and nationalism in his music. Confusion is a commentary on the confused state of post-colonial Lagos and its lack of infrastructure and proper leadership at the time. Kuti's pidgin English lyrics depict difficult conditions in the city, including a frenetic, multilingual trading market and inextricable traffic jams in Lagos' major intersections.
Felabration is an annual music festival conceived in 1998 by Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti in memory and celebration of her father Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and human rights activist known for pioneering the Afrobeat genre of music. The one-week-long event which is held annually at the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, attracts visitors from different countries and has thus been considered as an official tourist destination by the Lagos State Government.
MonoMono was an afro rock band formed in Lagos, Nigeria in 1971 by Sierra Leone-born Joni Haastrup, Babá Ken Okulolo, and Danjuma "Jimi Lee" Adamu. Other members included Friday Jumbo and Candido Obajimi. They produced a handful of singles and three full length LP's. "Monomono" is Yoruba for "lightning". Their music combined afropop, soul, and British rock, delivered in jam format.He has passed away on Tuesday 3rd of September 2024
Ọmọ́rìnmádé Kútì known professionally as Made Kuti, is a Nigerian afrobeat singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. He released his debut album titled For(e)ward in 2021.
Massad Boulos is a Lebanese-American businessman and political associate of Donald Trump. He is the father of Michael Boulos and the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany. He supported Trump's successful presidential campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election, and canvassed for the support of Arab Americans, particularly in Michigan.