Many people believe Ayinla Omowura had a more commercially successful career. Indeed, he had. He was a charismatic character with an imposing, take-no-prisoners aura that made his career appear a bit more interesting than it truly was. His reckless notoriety seemingly added more significance to his legend. He is in the top-ten list of Yoruba acts with a crazy following several years after his death, with a body of work still heavily in circulation.
But if I have to rethink who the winner of the legendary beef between Ayinla and Fatai Olowonyọ of the 70s was, as an older, mature fan, I may have to go with the latter. While the cause of the beef is now lost to history since the parties are now long dead (Ayinla died in 1980 and Fatai in 2010), large sections of music fans (including yours truly), in the Southwest, sided with Omowura primarily for his colorful nature and for little else. I must shamefully confess that I was one of the crazy fans that willingly followed the inebriated herd.
Rethinking the beef, or (should I say that) if the beef happened in contemporary times, I would effortlessly and gladly side with Olowonyọ in 2026. Aside from KSA’s Ekilo F’omode, Ayinde’s E sinmi Rascality, and a few others I would be hard pressed to imagine any Yoruba beef track that’s as emblematic as “E Lewure Wole.”
It’s a record you hear once, and its sheer brilliance in composition, instrumentality, and rhythmic fluidity can never be understated. Though Olowonyọ made other albums, Elewure is perhaps the only one he’s easily remembered for. Ayinla equally recorded clap-backs and responsive tracks, but none matched the devilish efforts of Elewure.
Ayinla Kollington, a standout adoptee of Omowura made diss tracks on behalf of his adopted musical father, yet none from them came close to ELEWURE. And even where they could have come close, they are significantly forgettable.
Comically, Elewure is the Yoruba version of Hit ‘Em Up. That record was good enough it even benefited Omowura. It further added some weird, villainous aura to Ayinla’s personality.
Fatai was a talented but unfortunate artist. Fatai Olowonyọ, Nosiru Atuwon, and Agbadaowo were the only Apala/Fuji musicians that were guitarists. In fact, Fatai displayed an uncanny mastery of the instrument (than all the mentioned) that the feeling that he could have played in an everyday band aside from his dedicated genre is unshakable. He was his own lead vocalist, plus lead and rhythm guitarist, while Adesina was his bassist. I repeat (for emphasis): Fatai Olowonyọ was the lead vocalist, plus lead and rhythm guitarist in his band, while Adesina was his bassist. It is hard to rate the best acts in Fuji or Apala, dead or alive, as exceptional instrumentalists on the level of Fatai Olowonyọ. Sad to imagine how underrated he was all his life. Pretty awful for him to be musically known for a record that, by happenstance, was generated from a beef, meanwhile, he was a technically sound musician.
Every Fujician and every Apalacian (not Appalachian) in 2026 and beyond simply owe this man a debt of gratitude. For he gave possibility a mouth-to-mouth. He was one of the pioneers (arguably the most notable) of the infusion of the guitar instrument into native sounds as in Apala, Fuji etc.
(His well-lined eyebrows. 😂 Wèrè aṣéwó ni gbogbo awọn Fatai! Walai!).
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