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Funmilayo, the daughter of Peter Elemure Ogunyemi, the late Emure singer, has revealed that he instructed her, through dreams, to always dress like a man, especially when performing on stage.
Emure is a traditional song style performed in the Ekiti dialect, and Ogunyemi is widely recognised as its pioneer.
Funmilayo opened up about her father’s posthumous guidance during a interview with BBC Yoruba.
“Ninu ifọrọwerọ yii to ṣe pẹlu BBC News Yoruba, gbajumọ akọrin ibilẹEkiti naa ṣalaye pe oju ala ni baba oun ti yọ si oun lẹyin iku rẹ, to si ti paṣẹ fun oun lati maa mura bi ọkunrin,” the news outlet wrote.
Funmilayo added that her male friends and colleagues in the music industry were not pleased with her decision to adopt male clothing.
She also disclosed that she initially started her career in Fuji music, but stopped after someone advised her that Fuji was not her true destiny.
Elemure was a renowned cultural ambassador. Born in 1944, he passed away in 2014 at the age of 70.
He was honoured with the chieftaincy title of Elejoka of Isaba in his community.
His distinctive Ekiti music style was often called ‘Native blues’.
During his lifetime, he toured countries including the United Kingdom, Poland, and the United States, and reportedly released over a hundred albums. Some of his notable works include ‘Seranmo,’ ‘Isokan Ekiti,’ and ‘Ekiti Yeye’.
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