Eight years on from his debut release on Wah Wah 45s, the label revisits and celebrates Afrobeat Ambassador Dele Sosimi. Having grown up in Nigeria under the tutelage of Fela Kuti, playing music with his son Femi, and going on to become musical director of Fela’s Egypt 80 band, Dele’s signing to Wah Wah 45s in 2015 was always going to be an auspicious moment for the label.
The debut album, assuredly entitled You No Fit Touch Am, harked back to the days of Fela’s original recordings, featuring as it did politically focused outings like Na My Turn and deeper, more spiritual moments such a Sanctuary, as well as uplifting Afrobeat bangers like the title track and the hugely popular E Go Betta.
The album received a rousing reception with Buzz calling it “An Afrobeat masterclass” and Okay Africa saying that the compositions “are steeped in socio-political messages and showcase classic 1970s Lagos songwriting.”
It spawned not only two remix 12”s, with producers like DJ Khalab, Titeknots and Medlar (the latter of which went on to work with Dele on their own project) but also a full dub rework of the album by UK reggae don Prince Fatty and Tru Thoughts / Jazzman recording artist Nostalgia 77, who also happened to be the recording engineer on the original album. This celebratory 27 track compilation not only includes the original album, dub versions and all previously released remixes and edits, but also an exclusive radio edit of Medlar’s remix, a brand new remix of Na My Turn by seasoned UK producer Ricardo, and a deep house mix of E Go Betta by South African producer Ryan Murgatroyd, previously unreleased on the label.
It’s the perfect moment to celebrate Dele’s solo work so far as he embarks on more collaborations, always moving forward, continuing to be a shining light of the Wah Wah 45s family and one of the last remaining legends of the Afrobeat scene.
Reactions & Radio Play
Radio play from Don Letts (BBC 6 Music), Yolanda Brown (Jazz FM), Sven Thomschke (Radio Z 95.8, Germany), Nelson Ramalho (Power FM, UK), The Shizzle (Bay FM, Australia)
“BIG PACKAGE HERE!” Juergen Jazzanova (Sonar Kollektiv, Germany)
“Yes! Love Dele.” Chris Philips (Jazz FM, UK)
“What a lovely collection of tunes, originals and remixes. Great stuff.” Flevans (Tru Thoughts, UK)
“Great LP!” DJ Angola (Space Ibiza / NYC, USA)
“SOLID!” Junior (Record Breakin’, USA)
“Woah, what a treat!!!!” DJ Pathaan (BBC Worldwide)
Radio play from DJ Ritu (Resonance FM), Jon Freer (Freer Sounds Radio), Pressure Drop (Radio Gold)
“Always a joy to hear the album again and the new remixes. Gosh so may variations and it will take some listening to choose my favourites of the new ones I hadnt heard but I like the Paper Tiger Mix on first time round for its fresh and cool approach, Ricardo remix for and Ryan Murgatroyd for their upbeat dance opportunities. Great to have it in one selection. All good.” John Warr (Afrobase, Totally Radio, UK)
“Oh my dayzzz!! Ptaki hands on Dele ! Massive” Olgierd (Sofa Surfing, Poland)
“Great selection / variations!” Tony Nwahchuku (CDR / Attica Blues, UK)
“Been a long-time fan of the album! Can’t wait to spin the remixes on the dance floor.” DJ Kobayashi (Soho Radio / Batov Records, UK)
“Lots to take in!! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to repeated listens.” Steve KIW (1BTN, UK)
“WOWWWWWWWWW!” Michael Stukes (WHCR 90.3FM, USA)
“Wow! Impressive package!” Jon Freer (Freer Sounds, UK)
“So massive, love what I have heard so far… all or part of it get played on my radio shows here in Brighton.” Marky Mark Johnson (1BTN, UK)
“WICKED from the beginning til the End. Full support.” Amar Kabouche (Fauve Radio, Hong Kong)
“Great stuff! Full air support as usual.” Tiago Santos (Radio Oxigenio, Portugal)
“Still sounds amazing eight years later!” Jason Palma (Footprints, Toronto, Canada)
“Massive! What a collection. Remixes are hotter than last nights kebab. Blinding.” Bean Noodler (Soul Buggin’, Nottingham, UK)
“Have always loved this album and everything Dele has touched, so this is a great reminder of his majesty.” DJ Mr Lob (Various, Australia)
“Dele Sosimi is amazing!” Eliana David (EOL Radio, Berlin, Germany)
“Amazing!” Enrique Domenech (Freeform Podcasts, Spain)
“What a package; tight Afrobeat and mixed-up takes. Burnin’ vibes!” Velanche Stewart (Urban Landscapes Radio, USA)
“Essential.” Olivier Cavaller (De La Bonne Musique, France)
“Wow, truly a 5-star DELUXE package! – Full support (of course).” Sven Thomschke (Radio Z, Germany)
“Amazing.” Bob Hill (Totally Wired Radio, UK)
“Afrobeat essentiel.” Jean-Marc Baehler (Radio TV Suisse, Couleur 3, Switzerland)
“Can’t wait to listen to those Prince Fatty dubs!!” Rick Anderson (CD Hotlist, USA)
“Overwhelming selection.” Rene Josquin (Format Analog, Germany)
“Pure excellence!” Erik Tcasiklovsky (Night Light Radio, Ukraine)
“Awesome package!!!” Markus Milz (Radio Corax, Germany)
“WHAAAAAT an edition! great job.” Simao (Toulouse, France)
“Strictly fantastic afrobeat!” Ivan Mera (Higher Club, USA)
“woahhhhh it was difficult to choose my fave. I could literally play each and every one of these tracks Bravo DELE & co.” DJ Roberta (Totally Wired Radio, UK)
“Playing a cut on tonight’s show! Would play the whole album if we had enough time…!” Danny Pressure Drop (Pressure Drop Radio, Montreal, Canada)
“Joy.” Dan Wesker (Detektor FM, UK)
“Looking forward to immersing myself in this Directors Cut of a modern classic.” Jamie Renton (Chilli Fried, UK)
“Great stuff – fabulous to see all the wah wah crew coming together for this tasty remix package – supporting (But always have :)” Andrew Haig (Bay FM, Australia)
“”Epic! beautiful collection! some really nice remixes in there, something for everyone!” Ed (Deep South Sounds, UK)
“This is like wondrous.. so so much gorgeousness!!!!” Aja Allsop (Ketch-A-Vibe, UK)
“Cool ones!” Tjerk (Aramada Music, UK)
“Blimey, more Deli remixes than I already have! Great though because I’m a big Prince Fatty fan too, so more is definitely better. Regretfully haven’t time to go through all of the tracks I’ve not yet heard right now but for sure I’ll be playing Fatty’s dub version of You No Fit Touch Am out sometime very soon. Awesome set.” Drummie Dave (Various, UK)
“As you may have seen elsewhere, I have already pronounced this album is “BIG”. There’s a number of reasons for this confident assertion as it was original a seven track album released by Dele Sosimi on Wah Wah 45s in 2015. Back then it was a mere 7 tracks and featured the realitively unknown Tamar Osborn (and is now better known as leader of Tamar Colocutor and has appeared with world star plus jazzers like Emma-Jean Thackray, BunnDebrettQuintett, Emanative and Liz Elensky) and was produced/mixed by Ben Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77).
As a former ‘pupil’ of Fela Kuti the album had many instant hits like ‘E Go Betta’, ‘You No Fit Touch Am’, ‘Where We Want Be’ and ‘I Don’t Care’.
Such was the attention, the Deluxe Edition re-issue features the original tracks together with previously unreleased and classic remixes, edits and dubs; including Dele’s new best mate, Medler (the ‘You No Fit Touch Am’ remix got these two together and it’s a match made at ‘The Shrine’ so to speak) together with the whole Prince Fatty vs. Nostalgia 77 dub album and old favourites like Modified Man, Paper Tiger and DJ Khalab.
Dele’s just had a BIG 60th birthday bash at the Jazz Cafe and the album that came out last month as Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21, ‘The Confluence’ (see review HERE) so it’s worth checking out what is now a 27 track option!
Now that is BIG!” Gerry Hectic (You And The Music, UK)
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