Osibisa is a British Afro-pop band, founded in London in 1969 by four expat… Read Full Bio ↴Osibisa is a British Afro-pop band, founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate African and three Caribbean musicians. Osibisa were one of the first African bands to become widely popular, leading to claims of founding World Music.

In Ghana in the 1950s, Teddy Osei (saxophone), Sol Amarfio (drums), Mamon Shareef and Farhan Freere (flute) played in a highlife band called The Star Gazers. They left to form The Comets, with Osei's brother Mac Tontoh on trumpet, and scored a hit in West Africa with their 1958 song "Pete Pete." In 1962 Osei moved to London to study music on a scholarship from the Ghanaian government. In 1964 he formed Cat's Paw, an early "world music" band that combined highlife, rock and soul. In 1969 he persuaded Amarfio and Tontoh to join him in London, and Osibisa was born.

The name Osibisa was described by the band members as meaning "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness" but it actually comes from "osibisaba" the Fante word for highlife. Their style influenced many of the emerging African musicians over the last forty plus years.

Ayiko Bia
Osibisa Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by Osibisa:

Beautiful Seven-Y Sharp We give you We give you Our treasure All our treasure We giv…
Celebration Celebrate good times, come on It′s a celebration Celebrate g…
Che Che Kule We Call it Che Che Kule Che Che cofisa Ah ah ah…
Coffee Song 2Pac Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Papa'z Song (feat. Wycked…
Dance the Body Music Dance The Body Music - Osibisa Dance the body music. Make…
Fire Wild thing, you make my heart sing You make everything groo…
Flying Bird Anoma Anoma Anoma Anoma Anoma Anoma Spread your wings And y…
Ojah Awake Ogya e (Ogya e) Ogya eeee Ogya ee Ogya aa Eeeeeh eeeh…
Pata Pata [** feat. Jory:] [Jory:] Chek the flow* Yo quiero tu aber…

Right Now People say Everything is alright What we say Things could be…
Sunshine Day Everybody do what you're doing Smile will bring a sunshine d…
Survival , So at this time we're all going to put our…
The Coffee Song Way down among the Brazillians, coffee beans sell by the…
The Warrior Okay, we gotta go and this time But we got to…
Think About The People Now stop for a moment Think about the world Think about the…
Welcome Home You've been gone it's an empty home Come on back when…
Welcome Home (Live at the Royal Festival Hall) You've been gone it's an empty home Come on back when…
Who's Got The Paper Who's got the paper who's got the match Who's got the…

Woyaya We are going Heaven knows where we are going We will know…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

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01The Dawn6:25

02Music For Gong Gong7:57

PT7M33S

07Think About The People4:36

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Comments from YouTube:

@ratdog6051

2y↑3

I bought this album when I was 14 and living in my home town in Northern Wisconsin very conservative redneck place. I couldn't exactly play for anyone i knew but I played it constantly when I was alone and loved every second of it

@Mauricio4612

2y↑5

Hello, this was a great African rock group in the 70s, they played musical themes of this group on musical radio in Quito Ecuador, what fond memories, as time has passed, remembering is living again, says an adage Greetings from Quito to its members to those who are still alive.

@kylechitiyo6776

4y↑6

First heard this on the radio back in 1972.Osibisa album covers were as brilliant as their music.Africa's answer to Santana, but funkier.

@michaelokolochidi8845

3y↑2

That says to me Welcome Back.Amazing remains these fruits of black Africa!!!

@lvb9910

9y↑22

This takes me back to 72, it still shines! Love Osibisa.

@brianwilliamsjr6996

3y↑3

Never heard this before and I’m so glad I found it!!! Amazing sounds

@didierdubos6313

9y↑19

lets me feel the same pleasure than 30 years ago ...Rythme and voices bring you direct in Africa

@knii5793

3y↑2

i wasnt in the 72s or 80s to like you but here in the 2020s am LOVING you.

@niinai1142

RIP. Master drummer Sol Armafio. You have paid your dues.

@Mauricio4612

2y↑2

Unforgettable memories of Osibisa's music
Happy December Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022 to you

@craigmclanachan1663

4y↑3

That bass! Hugely important band for very good reasons!

@nicholasakuamoah-boateng2286

7y↑7

I always remember their performance at the Kumasi sports stadium in 1972

@rociobarba509

6y↑7

SIEMPRE OSIBISA, MEXICO. AUNQUE NADIE LO LEA.

@berrypossum

10y↑11

Got this on LP- some real gems.

@mctavish23

Same here

@AnthonyWilliams-ls4ys

@sonakhan1712

5y↑3

All time favourite. Listening and dancing crazy since childhood 1979.

@waynejohnson9286

5y↑6

That Bass Line interdiction is Sick, and HE goes Off throughout the whole Album

@ShailendraSINGH-jk2ev

Godbaasleee

@ShailendraSINGH-jk2ev

Spartacus REAL bassmaaaan

@craigmclanachan1663

4y↑1

It was a huge weapon of a bass and he was the master of it!

@wotizit2937

@@craigmclanachan1663 on the contrary, the bass guitar which Spartacus played was a short scale bass guitar.

@bodhisitting9631

8y↑11

It is so cool to listen to this great music again, I still have their albums, but no turntable to play them on!

@craigmclanachan1663

4y↑1

Whatever you do keep them, you'll never regret it!

@kpete9219

6y↑7

O.K. who is not singing along with this???? This song was so radical for its day. I also had the album in college and we painted a mural of the album cover on our dorm house wall. It looked great. Obia, Obia..... Love it! This is in the mode of Santana only better. The instrumentation on this is top shelf.

@tomroby2541

7y↑7

Very cool music that I discovered in college. Osibisa has some of the best album cover art ever, too.

@mikemadden2729

6y↑1

Same artist as Yes.

@waynejohnson9286

Always Love Their Album Cover's, The 70s Albums Cover's Were Great Art Work 💪🏾

@alimonphiri9366

4y↑1

I still remember my school days when used to sing and dancing

@jsclement3617

5y↑5

Still it is so fresh to listen

@lorimartin7369

13w

I had this album! Been searching forever because I could not remember the band name

@stephensmith799

5y↑3

Hah. I remember playing 'round the table' (knockout) table tennis to this. African!

@ShailendraSINGH-jk2ev

Spartacus ...REAL bassmaaan

@coolmum47

8y↑5

OMG ... I love this track !!!

@josephmaclayton8371

Teddy Osei was the African Santana of the 70s. Compare them ....

@DRAKORLCL

QUE BUEN TEMA! ME TRAE BUENOS RECUERDOS.

@jergolinahoetmer1598

8y↑5

dit is een muziekale meesterwerk,amen!

@tildag.9809

4y↑1

#GhanaHit🇬🇭

@shailendrasingh2016

Best of all human endeavour

@bradleyforeman1135

6y↑1

listened to the jungle brothers album and heard the drums at the end and had to see who made the beat for it

@derrickwilson9583

8y↑2

Sue-mahn-yea!!

@MrRaphael39

12w

My peeps had Happy Children. Not this one. This was def, too

@p666rax2

5y↑1

cha cha cha amanayaba ....................

@jakebaba2149

5y↑3

"TWA TWA TWA OMANYE ABA", MEANS LET GOOD FORTUNE COME TO ALL

@alimonphiri9366

5y↑1

That is good

@TheAgProv

7y↑2

Is a translation available anywhere for these lyrics, and which African language is it in? thanks!

@Piesis9

6y↑2

paul Catlow The language is Ga. it is spoken by the people of Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

@mikemadden2729

6y↑3

Is that where the crocodiles are so tame that people sit in
lawn chairs & feed them by hand, or is that Gabon?
I saw this being done on television once! No shit!!!

@jakebaba2149

5y↑1

@@mikemadden2729 THE CROCODILES ARE IN THE TOWN OF PAGA ON THE NORTHERN BORDER OF GHANA. YES, THE CROCS ARE TAME AND CHILDREN SWIM IN THE SAME POND WITH THE CROCS.

@mikemadden2729

5y↑2

Yeah, I thought I saw that somewhere. They're like the warm, fuzzy chipmunks & squirrels around here (Wisconsin, USA). LMAO!

@ronalddoucette9662

37w

😅😮😢🎉

@nals7850

5y↑2

I can't seem to find a translation anywhere, does anyone know what "Ayiko Bia" means.

@isaackusi

5y↑2

Ayikoo means, Well done, in Akan language, but Teddy Osei would make up his own words in their songs, I think he knew the white folks do not know what it meant.

@nals7850

Isaac Kusi well it worked haha thank you for the translation 👍

@ShailendraSINGH-jk2ev

4y↑1

A Ghana lady I met on train....told me it means welcome for kids

@wotizit2937

2y↑2

@@isaackusi That is not the case here. 1. Ayikobia actually is "ayiko yè biyèei" which literally means "well done is here" in the Ga language: in other words, "this is a job well done". It is a Ga song introduced to Osibisa by Sol Amarfio, the drummer of the band. If you listen carefully to the percussion break, you will hear Sol chanting in Ga. Teddy doesn't speak the Ga language, so he mispronounced a lot of the words. 2. The origin of this fine song is shrouded in mystery because it seems to have a Nigerian link. Search for the version by Ginger Baker's Airforce which is credited to Remi Kabaka, the band's Nigerian percussionist, who is said to have worked with Osibisa in the early days.

@gilbertdutu4776

2y↑2

@@wotizit2937 you've done justice to it. Teddy Osei spoke very little Ga so Sol Amarfio may have written the lyrics. Sol was one of the best percussionists I've ever known. Fantastic drummer. I saw them at Legon in 1977.

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