The Story

Ìtàn · The Story

Scroll right to walk the decades. Each stop holds the record that defined it, the photographs that survived it, and the moment the genre moved. The rail never resets. It is the same journey the site itself is built to keep.

1976

The debut, at fifteen

"Late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed" is released on Leader Records. It is the first recording by a female Yoruba artist to sell over a million copies in Nigeria. She had been singing publicly since thirteen.

1980s

A decade at Leader Records

Islamic praise, social commentary and Yoruba rhythm held in one form. Gentle Lady. Indian Waka. The records that carried waka out of the compound and onto national radio.

1986

A new label, a new chapter

She leaves Leader Records and records with Alhaji General Kollington Ayinla, staying with his label until 1994.

1992

Crowned Queen of Waka

Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, the Alaafin of Oyo, confers the title Queen of Waka Music. Since then the woman and the genre have been named in the same breath.

2000s

Beyond the record sleeve

Over forty albums, screen appearances, and a catalogue that keeps finding new listeners through loss, illness and return.

Today

Still on stage

Fifty years in, she is still performing. The women who came after her still name her as the reason the stage was open at all.

In her words

I’m grateful to Almighty Allah for where I am and for how far He has brought me. My career has come with opposition, setbacks, and many reasons to quit, but I’m glad I chose to keep going. I hope that someday, when people hear or read my story, they’ll find a reason to keep going in theirs too.

Queen Salawa Abeni · 2026

Fifty years,told sideways

The debut, at fifteen

A decade at Leader Records

A new label, a new chapter

Crowned Queen of Waka

Beyond the record sleeve

Still on stage

Fifty years,told sideways

The debut, at fifteen

A decade at Leader Records

A new label, a new chapter

Crowned Queen of Waka

Beyond the record sleeve

Still on stage