World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor?

Editors’ Notes William Onyeabor is something of a mystery. Here’s what we do know: between the mid-‘70s and mid-‘80s, he released a string of albums that married the best of American funk with Nigerian pop, using a small army of now-vintage synthesizers to do it. Rediscovered by crate-diggers, his ticky-tacky songs sound prescient—and quite relevant—today, frequently straying into the 10-minute range and showing their African roots in their tendency to build intensity through repetition. Start with “Atomic Bomb” and “Fantastic Man” for a wildly funky ride.