Majek Fashek

Majekodunmi Fasheke (March 1963 – 1 June 2020), known professionally as Majek Fashek, was a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His 1988 album Prisoner of Conscience included the single "Send Down the Rain", which won six PMAN Music Awards. Also known as The Rainmaker, he collaborated with various artists worldwide, including Tracy Chapman, Jimmy Cliff, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg, and Beyoncé.

Early life

Fashek was born in Benin City in 1963 to an Edo mother and an Ijesa father. He identified with Yoruba and Benin roots. Various translations of his name Fasheke (Ifá à ṣe èké) include "powers of miracles" and "divination does not lie", however, it refers to the orisha (deity) Ifa (deity of divination) of the Yoruba religion and means "Ifa does not lie/deceive." After his parents separated, Fashek remained in Benin City with his mother, and later joined the choir in his local Aladura church where he learned to play the trumpet and guitar while composing songs for the choir.

Musical career

Early 1980s: Jah Stix

In the early 1980s, Fashek, who at the time went by the stage name Rajesh Kanal, joined the group Jah Stix with musicians Amos McRoy Gregg and Black Rice...

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