Sierra Leone’s Janka Nabay passes on

Nabay’s career as a professional musician began when he joined the Super Sounds talent contest in the 1990s. Asked to play “something Sierra Leonean”, he produced bubu music, which for centuries had been confined to Temne villages. He had a modern take on the old sound.

“He revolutionised indigenous Temne music and fused it with other genres, making it palatable for a myriad of listeners,” Sierra Leonean music professional Esther Kamara told Music In Africa.

At the end of Super Sounds, Nabay's music had captivated the organisers of the show enough for them to announce him as the winner. His music would later captivate the nation after Janka Nabay cassette tapes went on sale. Soon he was famous and his music would be repurposed in ways he may not have foreseen.

During Sierra Leone’s civil war, fighters from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began to use Nabay’s music to ensnare ordinary citizens. On occasion, the rebels would play his music loud, attracting persons who believed a celebration had come to the neighbourhood. The rebels then captured these persons. Nabay tried to stop this use of his music by lashing out at the rebels in the music, but the RUF altered his lyrics to favour their cause. Later, Nabay and the rebels were associated for sometime.

As the war came to an end, Nabay immigrated to the US in 2003, and in 2010 he released the Bubu King EP. Two years later he released the album En Yay Sah. Last year, he released the Build Music album. Both albums were produced for Luaka Bop, the record label which has worked with such African artists as Angelique Kidjo and the late William Onyeabor.

After Nabay’s departure to the US, younger artists modernised bubu further. For instance, the hip hop act Drizilik added rap to the sound and produced the hit single ‘Ah Dae Go Dae Gbet’. But Nabay will be remembered as the man who gave the genre its first life outside of Sierra Leone’s Temne villages.

“He was an example to contemporary musicians in the sense that he took something that was 100 percent Sierra Leonean and broke through internationally," Kamara said. "No copying, no miming, just pure creativity with an element that was part of his identity."

Sierra Leonean journalist Kemurl Fofanah concurred saying, "We shall forever miss Janka Nabay and no one would dare talk about bubu music without making reference to him for what he did in popularizing that music."

Years after moving to the US, Nabay longed for the country of his birth. "I miss Sierra Leone because I don’t have competition in the West," he said last year. "I like some competition over my music. And I miss the culture."

Janka Nabay is survived by two children, both of whom live in Sierra Leone.