Ke̩hinde Lijadu (22 October 1948 – 9 November 2019) and Taiwo Lijadu (born 22 October 1948) were identical twin sisters from Nigeria who performed as the Lijadu Sisters from the mid-1960s to the 1980s.
They achieved success in Nigeria, and also had a more modest success in the United States and Europe. Described as a West African version of the Pointer Sisters who mixed Afrobeat sounds with jazz and disco, they retired from the music scene in the late 1980s, reforming and performing sporadically during the 2010s up until Ke̩hinde’s death in 2019. They were the cousins of the popular Nigerian musician Fe̩la Anikulapo Kuti.
The twins grew up in the Nigerian city of Ibadan, and were inspired musically by various artists including Aretha Franklin, Dr. Victor Abimbo̩la O̩laiya and Miriam Makeba. They had guidance from music producer Lemmy Jackson who is credited with helping them with their early successes.
Their music was a mix of Jazz, Afrobeat, Reggae and Waka. Sometimes they sang in English and other times in African languages. One of their first songs was arranged with assistance from jazz saxophone player Orlando Julius. They released their first album Iya Mi Jo̩wo̩ in 1969 after winning a record contract with Decca Records.
They worked with the late Biddy Wright on their third album Danger (1976). American rapper Nas sampled “Life’s Gone Down Low”, a track in the Danger album, as “Life’s Gone Low” on his 2006 Mixtape without crediting the duo. The Lijadu Sisters recorded Sunshine in 1978 and Horizon Unlimited in 1979.
The sisters were top stars in Nigeria during the 1970s and 1980s. During these years, they branched out to America and Europe and found modest success. They performed with drummer Ginger Baker’s band Salt at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in Munich at the World Music Festival.
The New York Times reported that the sisters were “smiling free spirits” who mixed “sisterly banter and flirtatiousness” in their performances which featured positive messages such as the benefit of returning home. Their reggae number Reincarnation insisted that if reincarnation was a reality, then they would like to be reincarnated again into the home where they grew up. Some of their song lyrics were politically themed. Their harmonies were described as “ethereal”.
In 1984 Shanachie Records released Double Trouble in the US which was a compilation of their previously recorded material from their albums Horizon Unlimited and Danger. Their song “Orere Elejigbo” was included on a double CD entitled Nigeria 70, Africa 100, and was added to the Roots & Wings playlist in 1997.
The sisters moved to Brooklyn, New York. They performed in various venues including the lower Manhattan club Wetlands and in Harlem with King Sunny Adé’s African Beats as their backing band. They performed with the Philadelphia-based band Philly Gumbo. They were featured in the music documentary Konkombé by English director Jeremy Marre, and their music was featured in the Nigerian instalment of the 14-episode world music series entitled Beats of the Heart which aired on PBS during the late 1980s.
On 1 April 2014, they appeared live at an all-star tribute, the Atomic! Bomb Band, for reclusive Nigerian musician William Onyeabor at the Barbican Centre in London. They sang some of their own tracks including “Danger”, as well as providing backing and lead vocals on William Onyeabor material. They also performed with the Atomic! Bomb Band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and on tour dates in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles in May 2014.
On 9 November 2019, Kehinde suffered a stroke and died on the same day, at the age of 71.
