With Sheriff Janko
Gambian reggae star Dr Olugander has spoken highly of his new album titled Friends on Journey which is set for release on 1 January 2018.
The new album showcases Dr Olugander’s growth over his musical career and gives his fans a body of work, which he holds dear to his heart.
Recorded in Finland and Jamaica, the 14-track sound was superbly mixed and mastered in the United States and Italy. Dr Olugander fell in love with music through inspiration of his late grandfather Oupa Kambai Joku who was a great cultural musician in those days.
Soon afterwards he quickly rose to fame and became one of The Gambia’s reggae ambassadors travelling to many countries promoting positivity through his music.
In an interview with Standard Lite from his base in Helsinki, Finland, the popular reggae star feels positive about his forthcoming album due to the rich composition of featured artistes.
He said; “This album is the greatest thing that ever happened in my music career, because in this album I had the chance to collaborate with great musicians I used to listen to growing up as a youth.”
The album, he added, chronicles his life journey, while at the same time advocates peace around the world. “It featured the likes of Macka B, Mickey General, Siddy Ranks, Teflon, Turbulence, Ele Trunk (son of Elephant Man) Cupid from Trinidad among other artistes.”
The album is currently available on CDs on all online media distribution outlets like ITunes, Amazon, play Google and Spotify, he added.
With the release of this album, the reggae star best known for his energetic stage acts, remains upbeat about his musical career. He is currently preparing to go out on his Friends on Journey tour that will take him to other parts of Europe and Asia.
Career in brief
Starting his music career way back in 1997 with two other colleagues in a crew dubbed ‘CAP-SYL-MAD VIBES’, Dr Olugander quickly rose to fame within a short period of time.
The latter music crew lasted for a year, before they changed to Promised Land Crew in1998, comprising him and Capricon as the main singers. The Promised Land recorded their debut album titled Too Late at Yellow Gates Studios under the watchful eyes of Kebba Taylor in 1998, with their first hit single making rotation on the national broadcaster titled, Babylon rule.
The music crew got a lot of exposure in the showbiz impresario and arts columnist Dr Obiozor Williams who first discovered their talents. However, their rapid rise to fame came after the first-ever Music Award held in The Gambia on 2 May 1998 at Palma Rima Hotel.
In 1999, the crew became a fans favourite during the “Fateleku” Nationwide Music Tour initiated by Obiozor Williams alongside veteran Gambian star Ousou Njie Señor and late Uncle George Christensen of Radio 1 FM. The music tour attracted over 40 artistes, who performed throughout the country.
Afterwards, in 2001 Capricon, one of the members decided to quit music, thus forcing Dr. Olugander to go on solo.
Continuing as a solo artiste, he won the Best Reggae Song in 2008, while in 2009 he was given an honorary award and invitation to perform at Atlanta, USA at the annual concert staged by AGERA.
With numerous albums and a multiple of collabos featuring both local and international acts, Dr Olugander over the past years has established himself as a performer, whose reputation is easily noticed in The Gambia’s music landscape.
