When it comes to evergreen music, you will probably think of King Sunny Ade, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, Mike Okri, Oliver De Coque and few others, but among these few, Chief Comfort Oluwafemi Omoge was an exceptional breed. In fact, she was one of the women who stood out like Onyeka Onwenu, Alhaja Abeni to produce music that stands the test of time.
Omoge is a native of ILU-TITUN, Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State who took the Biripo genre of music beyond the shore of Nigeria.
Comfort Oluwafemi Omoge was 14-year-old when she started music and became fully involved in it when she was 17 years old.
She was greatly encouraged by her husband, Oba Williams Omoge, the traditional ruler of Igbodigo kingdom, who always heard her sing from her sleep.
So, Omoge formed the Aboba- Asiko band, following the advice of her husband.
Comfort reportedly revived the Asiko music, a form of folklore people used to entertain themselves when they returned from farms and markets in the evening.
To keep the original sound of her music, she never employed any western instruments. All instruments used for her songs were local and indigenous as well as identifying with her roots, the cultural Asiko of the Ikale people.
In 1976, Omoge and her band released their first album, “Orogen rogen” and this made her the first woman in Ikale, old Ondo state, to take music as a profession.
She played prominent roles in the promotion of traditional music and her music reportedly competed with the late Afrobeat legend, Fela’s works on the foreign airwaves as authentic music from Africa.
Regarded as Queen of Asiko music, Comfort recorded a total of 60 albums throughout her career. She sang about politics, the economy, current affairs. She also exhorts through her song, advice, prays and preached moral integrity.
She was nominated by the Federal government of Nigeria to represent the country at the Black Cultural Festival scheduled for USA in April 1984 but did not hold due to the change of government in December 1983.
Before her death on August 28, 1999, she was the National Adviser of the Performing Musician Association of Nigeria. She was conferred with many chieftaincy titles and bagged many awards.
Content created and supplied by: KokoPrince (via Opera News )
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