Sola Akingbola is a percussionist, singer and band member of Jamiroquai. Born in 1965 and associated with Lagos and the United Kingdom, he develops a percussion-led style shaped by Yoruba ancestry, London’s music scene and a wide range of African, Latin jazz, funk and popular music influences.

Career

Akingbola joins Jamiroquai after drummer Derrick McKenzie recommends him for the group’s percussionist role. He steps in for a Paris television appearance on Taratata and becomes part of the band’s groove-driven sound, working alongside McKenzie across five albums. Before that, he completes an eight-month world tour with jazz guitarist Ronny Jordan and then records two albums with him, A Quiet Storm and Light to Dark, contributing two compositions to the latter.

He is a self-taught musician and first develops his drumming with London-based Nigerian percussionist Gasper Lawal. Earlier in his career, he is a founding member of the percussion trio Ubiquity with Joji Hirota, where he begins shaping the compositional approach for which he becomes known. He also works as a dancer and DJ during London’s 1980s rare groove scene.

Solo work and collaborations

Akingbola releases his first solo album, Routes to Roots, on ARC Music in 2007. He also works on his own compositions and a live project called CRITICAL MASS, a roots-based project built around layered percussion, synthesizers, guitars and Yoruba-language writing. His other collaborations include recording with Damon Albarn, Lokua Kanza, Fatoumata Diawara and Newton Faulkner.

Stage work

Between 2010 and 2013, Akingbola appears on stage at the National Theatre in Death and The King’s Horseman and at the Young Vic in The Feast, where he performs as a singer, performer and co-arranger. The production, directed by Rufus Norris, explores the influence of Yoruba culture across the diaspora.

Musical influences

His work draws on Nigerian-Yoruba heritage and an immersion in Afrobeat, Latin jazz and Black American music. Artists he cites as influences include Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Haruna Isola, Irakere, Los Van Van, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire and Funkadelic.