Member-only story

Oba Ogunlano — The King of Orisabeat

James Lee
3 min readJul 14, 2021

--

It’s good to finally catch up with you. Can you tell us a little about you?

My Name is Oba Ogunlano and I’m African by way of Florida. Born in Miami and Raised In Gainesville with Rich Cultural background in Nigeria and Benin. I believe what makes me Unique as an Individual is definitely per my up bringing and being raised in the Yoruba culture;The ways of my ancestors.From a young age I can remember playing drums to my mother Singing in the front room and As I grew in experience and expertise in African Drum and Dance , I began creating opportunities for other teachers and students of music and the culture. The African values that were passed down to me have allowed me to embrace who I am authentically and completely , embrace my heritage as An African person born in America. and has given me the foundation to build on as I embrace my Destiny.

. Music keeps me whole, music keeps me together and it’s a big part of my life, my expression. I would create music no matter what. Artistically what makes me different is , I am creating a new genre of music. Orisabeat, a fusion of African drums and Afro flavor with Jazz, Latin , Blues and other American sounds. Moving to Atlanta a few years back and going to open mics, playing drums with other artists;be it Horns, Strings or other percussionists, the Orisabeat…

--

--

James Lee
James Lee

Written by James Lee

Chris Collins is an American multimedia journalist from Los Angelas, California

No responses yet