Rick Asikpo And Afro Fusion - Got To Be Me

Mythical soul/boogie record recorded in Louisiana by Nigerian multi instrumentalist Rick Asikpo when he was studying in Houston. Rick Asikpo started his musical career while studying in Houston, joining local Black Artist collective The People’s Workshop, before returning to Nigeria and releasing a run of successful albums throughout the 80s. “Got To Be Me” was recorded at River City Studio in Baton Rouge in 1981 but was only released back in Nigeria and sold little at the time, with original copies vanishingly hard to find. Layers of synths wash over drawn out, Earth, Wind and Fire inspired grooves, moving from the uptempo “Disco Life” and “Jam” to the languid boogie and two step soul of “Love” and Donny Hathaway-esque “Let’s Get High”. The album is shot through a Texan/Nigerian filter that stands as a missing link between the dancefloor experiments of Houston and Lagos As featured on Soundway’s seminal “Doing It In Lagos” compilation.