Nigeria has lost one of its legendary artistes in the death of Olujimi Adeboye Solanke, popularly known as Jimi Solanke. The multi-talented actor died on February 5, 2024 at the age of 81. The deceased was a master storyteller, songwriter, singer, actor, playwright, dancer, puppeteer, visual artist, poet and a multi-instrumentalist. By dint of hard work, he became a household name in the nation’s creative industry.
In six decades, he functioned as a consummate artiste and mesmerised audiences with his spellbinding voice, words and dramatics. Good enough, Solanke’s art was driven chiefly by passion and not material things. Instructively, he continued in that path till his last days.
The great thespian made growing up memorable for many Nigerian kids, especially through folktales on television, which educated young Nigerians of their cultural heritage, which cosmopolitan lifestyles and western civilization have greatly eroded. He also made the older generations nostalgic about their childhood pastime under the village moonlight with exotic tales. Solanke provided that much-needed link between the past and the present through his artistic vocation.
The first TV folklore programme he appeared in was in “Family Scene” on LTV 8 after his return from the United States (US). Subsequently, NTA Training School, Jos, invited him for a collaboration, which led to the creation of “Story Land”. We celebrate Solanke as a great actor and a man of innovative ideas.
The deceased claimed to be the first person in the world to ever rap in a recorded song. The artiste was born on July 4, 1942, in Lagos to the Solanke family of Ipara Remo, Ogun State. Solanke developed his musical and dramatic talents quite early. At Olowogbowo Methodist School and Odogbolu Grammar School both in Ijebu, where he had his early education, he was popular for his end-of-year performances in drama and music.
As a schoolboy, he rehearsed with Chicago Roy’s Band and composed songs. But his father, who didn’t want him to pursue his creativity, sent him to work in Caxton Press, Ibadan, as a trainee. Fortuitously, Solanke found good company in members of the artistic community of Mbari Club, which included notable names like JP Clark, Christopher Okigbo, Ulli Beier and others.
The veteran artiste also explored the vibrancy of Ibadan as an entertainment hub with a thriving nightlife in pre-Independence Nigeria by using his evenings after work to build a reputation as a composer, performer and singer. Some of the bands he performed with included Victor Faulkner’s band, Zen Phillip and the Blue Nine, Eddy Okonta band, Chris Ajilo and the Cubanos.
Though his parents and relatives pressured him to jettison his creativity, Solanke never backed down. He continued to mingle with members of the Mbari Club, where plays and poems written by legends such as Soyinka, Okigbo and Clark were enacted on stage.
At the University College, Ibadan, his English accent was polished while his dramatic talent was fine-tuned. He was a pioneer member of the Orisun Theatre Company, founded by Wole Soyinka, and played leading roles in Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, Kurunmi, Chattering and the Song, Kongi’s Harvest, The Divorce, to mention a few. Solanke also explored the mass communication channel of the television and wormed himself into the hearts of many Nigerians. He featured in The Village Headmaster, The Bar Beach Show, and For Better for Worse, aired on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
No doubt, Solanke was a national icon. At FESTAC ‘77, where he represented Nigeria, he starred and got an opportunity to tour the world. In the midst of established international acts like Grover Washington, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, he was invited to perform the first rap in the world in 1977, two years before ‘Rappers Delight’ by the Sugarhill Gang was acknowledged as the first-ever rap track in 1979.
We commiserate with the Solanke family, his home state and the arts and entertainment sector where he spent most of his life. For his averred commitment to the development of arts and culture in the country, we urge the Federal Government to immortalise him. May God grant his creative soul eternal rest.