Alldayeveryday Films and Luaka Bop make a documentary about the enigma that is William Onyeabor.
Ever since Strut Records first released their – Nigeria 70 “The Definitive Story of 1970’S Funky Lagos – compilation back in 2001, an ongoing revival in African music from the 1960s and 70s has been truly flourishing with the renaissance continuing on into the present moment.
With the rise of imprints such Analog Africa, Soundway, Awesome Tapes from Africa and Luaka Bop leading the charge, the latter has no more so captured the imagination than with the release of the mighty “Who is William Onyeabor” compilation album, at the tail end of last year.
Already an enigma to the world at large, other than his musical footprint: little information has ever really been found out about the man who self-released 8 albums of sparkling synth infused home-grown funk between 1978 and 1985.
Though the reports varied wildly – he studied cinematography in Russia, he self-financed his own movie, he was a titan of industry in his native Nigeria, and possibly had business interests in Sweden. The only thing for certain is that Onyeabor left everything behind; disavowing music for Christianity.
As part of the ongoing story, Alldayeveryday Films have joined forces with the Luaka Bop to produce “Fantastic Man”, a wonderful 30min documentary that delves deeper into the mystery behind the music.
