Adewale Adekoya, the saxophonist of Nigerian fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1, has tendered public apology over the controversial ‘Oyunkoyun’ lyrics sang by the band amid a fresh paternity scandal involving the singer.
NPO Reported that the fuji icon had last week come under fire following the release of a video of his performance at the palace of Onikate of Ikateland where he rendered the lyrics widely considered as mockery song targeted at Asisat Ayinde, the 12-year-old girl who claimed to be the singer’s daughter.
The Fuji icon, in the Yoruba lyrics particularly targeted at Asisat’s mother, Ogechi, said ‘To ba loyunkoyun, sara ni’.
This, in English, implied that any unwanted pregnancy linked to him is the woman’s responsibility and hers to deal with.
The video had since subjected Wasiu to heavy backlash from netizens and some of his fans who expressed their disappointment in the singer.
In the wake of the reactions, Adekoya took to his TikTok handle on Sunday, tendering public apology over the incident while making clarifications on the controversial lyrics.
The saxophonist took responsibility for the incident as he claimed being the one who interpreted the lyrics of the beat played by the percussionists to Wasiu.
‘I take full responsibility of whatever happened on stage on that particular day because I was the one who interpreted the alujo to Alhaji when the percussionists were playing the beat.
‘I think where everything went bad was the fact that it happened on a very sensitive period which I take full responsibility and accountability for.’ He said.
Adekoya disclosed that the controversial beat created by a new member of Wasiu’s band, Ayankunle Ayanlowo, had been in use by the band for a long time.
The beat, according to him, however had no specific interpretation until the members of the band started giving different meaning to it.
‘This particular beat that caused the whole issue is not new. We’ve been using this beat for a very long time now since Mr. Ayankunle Ayanlowo joined the band.
‘He was the one who originated the beat. But as at that time, it had no meaning and no interpretation, and it had become one of Alhaji’s favourite beats so far. He is always excited whenever he hears the beat.
‘Fast forward to some months ago, we were at an event. I and Mr. Ayankunle and other band members were at the backstage. We were having fun and catching cruise.
‘During the playful moment, I asked Mr. Ayankunle that this alujo that you formed, what is the meaning of it.
‘He was no like ‘let’s all find interpretation to it.’
‘Everybody was bringing up different versions and slangs to the alujo as at that day. This tobaloyunkoyun was not even the first, second, or third.
‘The first version we gave to it was toba gbemulasan wahala ni, that is, if he fumbles, he will see trouble.
‘We were having different versions of it jokingly and it happened before this incident of the mother and the daughter.’ He said.
The saxophonist recalled how he came up with the oyunkoyun lyrics during Wasiu’s performance at the weekend.
‘On this particular day that the incident happened, I won’t lie to you, from the beginning of that show, Alhaji was in a very good mood with the band. Everybody was happy.
‘He was dashing out money. We were all excited.
‘That was why you could see how everybody was laughing during that moment because we were doing everything out of excitement and it was not intentional. It was a harmless fun moment for us.’ He said.
Adekoya claimed that the lyrics was never KWAM’s idea, adding that it was also not intended to mock the fuji musician’s estranged daughter and her mother.
‘The beat came up again during the exciting moment. I then told Alhaji that this is the interpretation to that beat now. Out of that excitement, he was very shocked.
‘And to be honest, Alhaji knew nothing about this. He was not involved in the interpretation. He never told us anything. He didn’t put any words to our mouths.
‘That was why he was really shocked that you finally found meaning to this beat. We were just excited. We were not laughing because of the mother and the daughter.’ He said.