The legendary music icon, Majek Fashek has died. His death was first reported by veteran journalist, Azuka Jebose who cited family sources .THE DIASPORA POST learnt that Majek Fashek died in New York, USA on Monday June 1st (2020).
Majekodunmi Fasheke was born in Benin City, Nigeria to an Edo mother and a Yoruba father.
He first gained national fame on a television show in the early 1980s as a member of Benin-based reggae group Jastix. His bandmates included the late Ras Kimono and Amos McRoy Gregg. They toured for many years with fellow reggae group “The Mandators”. In 1988, shortly after Jastix disbanded, he began a solo career and quickly became the best-known reggae artist in Nigeria. song “Send Down The Rain” was a hit, and he won six US-based PMAN Music Awards.
After leaving Tabansi Records, he was signed to CBS Nigeria in the early 1990s before moving to Island Records’ Mango imprint, a label more accustomed to marketing reggae internationally. His first album for the company included a cover version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”. In 1990 he was signed to Interscope Records and released the critically acclaimed album Spirit Of Love, produced by “Little Steven” Van Zandt. Flame Tree released The Best of Majek Fashek in 1994. He has recorded several albums for various labels since, including Rainmaker for Tuff Gong (1997) and Little Patience for Coral (2004).
Fashek was one of the increasing number of African artists to be drawn to the music of the Caribbean, specifically reggae, rather than indigenous hybrids such as fuji, jùjú, or highlife. Having grown up in a fervently religious and musical family, he was exposed to the imported sounds of Bob Marley at an early age, alongside the innovations of local stars such as Fela Kuti. His major influences were Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, and Jimi Hendrix.
Year Title Label Notes
1989 Prisoner of Conscience …Mango Records
1991 Spirit of Love Interscope …Records
1997 Rainmaker …Lightyear Entertainment
2005 Little Patience …Coral Music Group
1 Comment
I never got to meet this legend of a guy but as a young disc jockey in ATL Georgia, in the days of compact disc, a guy who just arrived from Naija handed me a compilation and said hey DJ, pls play track 7 now, I complied w/o hesitating something I rarely do. The track was ‘Send down the RAIN’ wow! The audience loved it, I loved it much better as I kept repeating it again, and again. What a lost. Great legend, May ur soul rest in peace. U are using and playing redemptions song with the Angels right now.