Osunlade (/ˌoʊsʊnˈlɑːdeɪ/; born March 13, 1969)[2] is an American-born musician and music producer.
Biography
Osunlade was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] He composed music for Sesame Street during the late 1980s and early 1990s.[4] Afterward, he moved to
Los Angeles, California, where he worked with artists such as
Patti LaBelle and
Freddie Jackson. After a stint there, he moved to New York, where he founded Yoruba Records because of The continued need to create the music i wanted.[5] To date he has worked with such artists as
Roy Ayers, Nkemdi,
Salif Keita,
Poranguí, and
Cesária Évora. In 2006, he released an album titled Aquarian Moon, in 2007, he released an album titled Elements Beyond on the revived
Strictly Rhythm Records, and, in 2009, he released the album Passage. He is a priest of the
Yoruba religion of
Ifá. Because of his beliefs, Osunlade's music has a deep spiritual root in Yoruba traditions that are also reflected in the name of his record label, album covers, and also the titles of some of the tracks he has remixed such as "
Obatala y
Oduduwa" and "
Yemeya."
In July 2023, Osunlade posted a video on his Facebook page[6] regarding trans rights, expressing that "4000+ kids transitioning in the States alone is alarming". He further went on saying he "was wrong then" about the
COVID vaccines and now "there are 8 million people that are damaged or dead because of that". He further said there's a global "depopulation agenda". He received backlash in September 2023, when he was dropped[7][8] from the lineup of the long-running Harvest festival in Ontario, Canada.
Discography
Singles
1999 "Native Tongue"
2000 "Beats de los Muertos Vol. 1"
2000 "Power to Conquer/Aldeia de Ogum" (as Latina Café)