Ahmed Janka Nabay (5 January 1964 – 2 April 2018) was a Sierra Leonean musician and a major figure in Bubu Music, a traditionally Temne music which is played by up to 20 musicians blowing into bamboo pipes of different sizes.BBC, Africa On Your Street. He first earned attention after performing for an audition of SuperSound.
He recorded his album in Forensic Studios in Freetown during the Sierra Leonean Civil War. Since moving to Washington, D.C. in 2003, he continued to play bubu music, including a performance at the CMJ College Music Marathon in New York in 2009 and 2010.
In June 2010, he formed a full band, Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, with members of four Brooklyn indie rock groups Skeletons, Gang Gang Dance, and Starring.New York Times, Music Section: To Be Seen And Heard All Around Town.
In 2012, his band announced that they had signed a three-album record deal with David Byrne's record label, Luaka Bop.
Personal life and death Janka Nabay was of Mandingo and Temne descent, two of the ethnic groups within Sierra Leone.
It was reported on April 2, 2018 that Janka Nabay had died of a stomach ailment. He was 54 years old."OkayPlayer, Janka Nabay Pioneer Sierra Leonean Musician Has Passed Away", okayafrica.com. Accessed 16 February 2022.
Nabay's bandmate Michael Gallope wrote about the band's creative process and Nabay's "often dehumanizing" experiences as an exile attempting to make a living out of music.Gallope, Michael. 2020. "World Music without Profit", Twentieth-Century Music 17/2 (June): 161-195..
Discography Disarm, Recorded at Island Studio Freetown, Side A: 1) Dis-Arm, 2) Dance to the Bu-Bu 3) Lek You Culture 4) Some Body. Side B: 1) Yay Su Tan Tan, 2) On the Bu-Bu 3) Dance to the Bu-Bu, 4) Dis-Arm Bubu King, True Panther Sounds, 2010.Dusted Reviews: Janka Nabay. An Letah, True Panther Sounds/Luaka Bop, 2012. En Yay Sah, Luaka Bop, 2012 Pitchfork Reviews: En Yay Sah Build Music, Luaka Bop, 2017 The Guardian Reviews: Build Music
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