Dan Maraya

Life Danmaraya Jos, whose name means "The Orphan of Jos", was born in 1946 in Bukuru, near Jos in Plateau State, Nigeria. he made a kuntigi, with which he has accompanied himself ever since.

Danmaraya was a vocalist, singing while accompanying himself on a small Nigerian lute called a kuntigi.

Like most griot professional musicians, the mainstay of Dan Maraya's repertoire was praise singing, but Dan Maraya singled out his personal heroes rather than the rich and famous. His first song was "Wak'ar Karen Mota" ["Song of the Driver's Mate"] in praise of the young men who get passengers in and out of minivan buses and do the dirty work of changing tires, pushing broken-down vans, and the like.

His repertoire also included "songs about natural phenomena such as death, luck, wealth etc" as well as songs about "anti-societal acts." When the civil war ended with the victory of the federal government, Dan Maraya sang "Munafukan Yaki..." ("The Hypocrites of War") lampooning governments and international figures that sided with Biafra.

Many of his songs incorporate social commentary. decries the practice of families arranging marriages for their daughters rather than letting them decide on their own mates. "Gulma-Wuya" ["The Busybody"] describes a neighborhood gossip who works in collusion with a boka (a practitioner in casting spells, removing evil spirits, etc.) to disrupt marriages by sowing dissension between women and their husbands. The latter song is amusing in that Dan Maraya performs it as a drama, imitating the voices of the different characters as they speak, a technique that he has used in other songs as well.

Recordings Individual songs Auren Dole [Forced Marriage] Munafukan Yaki (Wallahi Kun Tabe) [translation: War Hypocrites (By God You Are Gone)] Wakar Shari'a [Song of Sharia] Alhaji Shaaibu Jagaf Wakar Hankali [Song of the Mind] Alhaji Bako Doma Wakar PolyGram [Polygram song]