William Onyeabor - Who Is William Onyeabor?

William Onyeabor self-released eight albums on his own Wilfilms label between 1977 and 1985, recording in near-total isolation in Enugu, south-eastern Nigeria, before turning his back on music entirely and refusing to discuss it for the rest of his life. This 2013 Luaka Bop compilation, the fifth in the label's World Psychedelic Classics series, compiled by Uchenna Ikonne with liner notes by Vivien Goldman, is the release that pulled his heavily synthesised, rhythmic Afro-funk out of obscurity and into a global audience. The masters were transferred by Colin Young at See Why Audio in London and by Kieran Hebden in Woodstock, N.Y., mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk, lacquers cut by Joe Lambert, and pressed at Pallas in Germany. Onyeabor died in January 2017; this remains the definitive way in.