One of the outstanding songs in the album is “Okwute Nmili,” by Queen Theresa Onuorah and her Original Famous Egedege of Africa. Queen Theresa Onuorah hails from Anambra State, precisely Unubi, and has made a landmark impact in Egedege dance—an Igbo cultural music/dance form. Fondly called “Onu Ejiri Mara Mba” by her townsmen, she has played a vital role in bringing her people’s Egedege traditional dance to the limelight with her golden voice.
If you grew up in Eastern Nigeria during the 1980s and 1990s, you would likely be familiar with Theresa Onuorah and her famous Egedege dance troupe. It was during this period that she made Egedege music famous, an exciting mix of highlife sounds and flute that made it have a broader and more majestic sweep than Atilogwu and Makossa.
Formed in 1985, Egedege Dance is among the leading traditional dance groups in South-Eastern Nigeria. It is an Igbo royal style of cultural dance that has developed from an ancient version performed by the ancestors of the current Unubi people. Previously, it was a youth moonlight dance, but it has been modernized to contemporary trends, including songs, dance, instrumentation, and colorful traditional outfits.
Elaborate flute precedes the group’s entrance, headed by the queen herself, onto the stage. The singing starts at the point when Queen Theresa gets to the stage and holds the microphone, hence a performance that is vibrant in culture. “Okwute Nmili” is thus a testification of the gift and zeal Queen Theresa Onuorah has in terms of preserving and celebrating Igbo cultural heritage through music and dance.
Queen Theresa Onuorah songs mp3 download.