Amayo

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Amayo at Felabration 2022 in Lagos, Nigeria.

(Abraham) "Duke" Amayo is a Nigerian musician, composer, singer, and former frontman of the Afrobeat band Antibalas for 23 years. Amayo was “credited for bringing Afrobeat to a global audience, leading it to become a genre of itself.” - Soundcheck, WNYC

Biography

He performed at the Apollo with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Charles Bradley as part of the Daptone Soul Revue, which was also made into a documentary. He was the face and lead singer for the band for 23 years, who many affectionately called the spirit of Antibalas, as the only authentic Nigerian in the band.

Songs in the repertory include ‘Amenawon’, "Lion Awakes", "Happy Lion", "Fist of Flowers' and "MTTT" first put out in his "Kung Fu Lessons of Life" album in 2002.

‘Fu Chronicles’ sets the tone for the type of music he's been performing on tour. He has a new album under his own name, AMAYO, being recorded at Diamond West studios in LA. Amayo has hand-selected some of the best musicians in the industry and reunited with some of the original Antibalas members to bring a new beginning to Afrobeat music.

"Wasn't that brother James Brown preaching up a bodacious erotic sermon? (Actually, it was Abraham (Duke) Amayo, Antibalas’ charismatic dreadlocked lead singer-conguero, inviting the sweltering L.A. audience to rip off its clothes.)" - LA Times

"[Duke] Ellington uses his remarkable abilities to dispel any lazy presumptions about genre and race. [Duke] Amayo carries on that mission." - The Village Voice

Early Life

British-born of Nigerian parents, Amayo's spirit was first ignited at Fela's club, The Shrine, in Lagos, Nigeria. While growing up in Lagos, his primary passions were dancing and practicing Kung Fu to the rhythms of funk and Afrobeat. It was then that the seed of Afrobeat was first implanted within him.

When he was 9, the Biafra war forced him to move from Nigeria to Ghana to live with his Grandmother to escape the violence. After the war, his mom sent him to boarding school in Benin City, Nigeria so he could be close to his father. The school was where he was exposed to martial arts. There, he saw his first Kung Fu Film & joined the martial arts program. He was 13 and his program created a social club for the entire student body. They put on plays & other schools would travel to come and see them perform. He played the lead. Years later, he would become the lead singer of Antibalas touring the world for 23 years. His love for martial arts led him to become a certified Jow Ga Kung Fu Sifu in the early ‘80s.  

Amayo moved to America to attend college at 17 years old. He graduated from Howard University with a bachelor's degree of Fine Arts and was on Dean’s Honor Roll for 3 years in a roll. He won the All-Meac Football Award 2 years in a row. He received a full athletic scholarship from Howard for 3 years on the football team as a kicker. He won the scholarship after making a 64-yard field goal 3 seconds to the end of the scrimmage, and was hero for the day. He tried out for the Redskins while in college. His graduating theses was, “Art Knows No Boundaries.” His focus was medical illustration. He loves the hyper detail techniques and patience one must employ to illustrate a subject matter. He illustrated the cover art for the Antibalas album, “Fu Chronicles,” featuring every musician who performed on the album along with a large dedication to his late mother, Esther Amenawon Amayo (who the song “Amenawon” is dedicated to.)

In 1995, he moved to NYC where he designed clothes and taught Kung Fu in his storefront, the Afrospot Temple, a dojo and venue in pre-gentrified Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He put on fashion shows with models from the Fashion Cafe walking to live Nigerian percussionists. He had his own clothing line, AMAYO. In 1998, two guys came into his Afrospot and asked him to be part of a new band, Antibalas. His Afrospot became their rehearsal space and where Daptone Records was founded. They put on many parties and events there.

After joining Antibalas, Amayo spent a year teaching himself to play the piano and wrote his first tune, “M.T.T.T. (Mother Talker, Tick Tock)” in 2000, (nominated for a GRAMMY in 2020).

Songs on the "Fu Chronicles" album all written by Amayo include, "Fist of Flowers" based on the Kung Fu movement, "Flower Fist." Other songs he wrote like, "Gold Rush" and "Tombstown" were about the ancestors.

He believes that your personality is your name. He left Antibalas to launch is solo career as AMAYO because, “If you don't go, you never know.”

Since then he brought his new band to Nigeria to perform for the first time at Felabration, 2022. He debuted his new band at BAM, Brooklyn, along with a run of shows on the East and West Coast in 2023.

Sifu Amayo

Amayo first studied martial arts in Nigeria while in boarding school. He was certified as a Sifu in Washington DC. As Sifu, he is a senior master of the Jow Ga Kung Fu School of martial arts, rooted in the ancient Shaolin school. He has been studying, performing, and teaching Kung Fu for 30 years. He choreographed a Kung fu/movement piece for the Washington Ballet, and has guest taught hundreds of NYC public school children for the National Dance Institute. Sifu Amayo has also trained and performed the role of the Lion Head in traditional Chinese Lion Dance for over 30 years. The Ancient Chinese Lion Dance is one of China’s most celebrated traditions. It is a high-energy performance where professional martial artists don the elaborately decorated two-person Chinese Lion body (head and tail), bringing to life a rich oral history that spans many generations of Chinese folklore. The Lion is a symbol of strength and prosperity and is considered to be good luck by all who cross its path. Sifu Amayo begins his one of a kind show by calling the lion to life, performing a salutation ritual and paving the way for dance and celebration of our limitless possibilities. The Lion may be playful and happy, fierce, or bashful, depending on the mood.

Partial Discography

Antibalas, “Fu Chronicles”, February 7, 2020

Henry Cole & Villa Locura, “Buscando La Vida”, November 19, 2021

Amayo, “Osun Osogbo”, August 16, 2021

Armo, “Armo”, February 13, 2019

Antibalas, “Where the Gods Are in Peace”, September 15, 2017

Antibalas, “AWOL 45”, October 18, 2012

Antibalas, “Antibalas (Self-Titled), August 7, 2012

Professor Wouassa, “Dangerous Koko!”, February 4, 2011

Melvin Gibbs, “Ancients Speak”, March 17, 2009

Antibalas, “Security”, March 7, 2006

Antibalas, “K-Leg and R.O.C.”, January 1, 2006

Antibalas, “Government Magic”, January 1, 2005

Antibalas, “Who is this America”, October 19, 2004

Red Hot +Riot, “Red Hot + Riot”, October 15, 2002

Antibalas, “Talkatif”, March 1, 2002

Amayo’s Fu-Arkist-Ra “Afrobeat Disciples (Reissue)”, 2002

Amayo’s Fu-Arkist-Ra, “Afrobeat Disciples”, January, 2002

Antibalas, “Liberation Afrobeats”, April 9, 2001

Antibalas, “Liberation Afrobeat Volume 1”, 2001

Antibalas Tour EP, 2001

Antibalas, “Uprising” April 9, 2000

Television Appearances

• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon NBC Television. August 24, 2012.

Music Videos Featured

Antibalas - "Fight Am Finish" (Official Music Video)

Antibalas - "Gold Rush" (Official Music Video)

Antibalas "Dirty Money" (Official Music Video)

External Links

Amayo Official Website

References

This article "Amayo" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Amayo. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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