Okpan Arhibo Biography: The famous Urhobo Musician Okpan Arhibo is a popular face in Nigeria. He has gained mastery in Urhobo traditional music and is popularly known as the King of Urhobo music. Arhibo hails from the Delta State of Nigeria.
In this blog, we will be talking about the biography of famous Urhobo musician Okpan Arhibo, so, if you are excited then keep reading the article till the end!
Okpan Arhibo Biography, Wiki
Okpan Arhibo was born in the petroleum-rich Delta State of Nigeria. He is a renowned Urhobo Musician based in Nigeria. Arhibo has gained over 30 years of experience in Urhobo traditional music. With his immense love and passion for the Urhobo music, he is famously known as the King of Urhobo music.
He has released over 200+ albums in this traditional music to date. Arhibo performs his shows outside the African continent also. He has performed in America & Europe.
Okpan Arhibo belongs to Nigeria’s Urhobo cultural group which is the fifth-largest cultural group in Nigeria and the largest in oil-rich Delta State.
Being the part of Urhobo group, Arhibo successfully inherited his traditional music and now he gained mastery in his traditional music.
Okpan Arhibo Bio, Wiki, Age
Okpan Arhibo is now an older gem of Urhobo music. He devoted his life to his traditional art. Throughout his life, Okpan worked hard in reviving the essence of Urhobo traditional music. Okpan’s date of birth is not known to us till now. Hence, it is hard to say the exact age of the veteran musician.
Okpan Arhibo Changed The Dimensions Of Urhobo Traditional Music
Once it was a time during the 80s when the youths of the Urhobo group desperately wanted to be westernized. They rejected their traditional music and slowly shifted towards the western beats. But, it was Okpan Arhibo who remain faithful to his traditional art & music.
It was the time of 1980s when Okpan came up with his new album, “Catch Fire Dance”. The song followed the true form of Urhobo music. Soon it became a seminal hit, he had in one go changed the style & approach within the Urhobo nation and the arena of Urhobo music and dance.
Arhibo successfully revived the diminishing traditional art of his cultural group. It was Okpan who made Urhobo music acceptable to the youths.
Now, it is the time when Urhobo youths are more inclined towards their traditional music than western music. If Okpan is performing live and parallelly some western beats are tuning then the youths will prefer listening to Okpan rather than the western one.