Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump: Original Heavyweight Afrobeat, Highlife & Afro-Funk

Lagos of the 1970s is the focal point, a hotbed of fusions and hybrids combining street styles like juju with highlife and 'East meets West' Afrofunk sounds. The 1960s saw an influx of music from America, with rock & roll, blues, jazz and eventually Jamaican ska all making their way into Nigerian record collections.

Even psychedelia showed up on African shores (The Immortals' 'Hot Tears'), and this clearly impacted significantly on a generation of artists. The earliest bulletins from this cross-cultural melting pot are exemplified by these recordings, by Sir Shina Peters, Ashanti Afrika Jah, Peter King, Chief Checker, The Faces (not the one with Rod Stewart in) and Eric (Showboy) Akaeze & His Royal Ericos amongst many key artists of the era.

Compiled by leading Afro archivist Duncan Brooker and Strut's Quinton Scott, 'Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump' forms another chapter in the rich musical background of Africa and, as followers of the Strut label will have come to expect, it is accompanied by a full booklet featuring extensive sleeve notes by Ghana-based author and journalist, John Collins.