Artist

African Head Charge

formed as a studio project in 1981 · activeLondon studios → Ghana and international live circuits
THE STORY

Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah’s percussion and Adrian Sherwood’s studio made a music that is dub, post-punk and African rhythmic imagination without settling into any one of them.

GO DEEPER

African Head Charge began in London in 1981 as a studio project between Jamaican percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and producer Adrian Sherwood. Bonjo brought Nyahbinghi, Poco and other percussion knowledge; Sherwood recorded, edited and treated the performances in On-U Sound’s basement environment. The project’s early mission borrowed Brian Eno’s phrase “a vision of a psychedelic Africa,” but the music quickly became more than a concept: layered drums, tape loops, voices, bass and dub effects forming a world with its own internal rules. “My Life in a Hole in the Ground” opened the catalog in 1981, “Songs of Praise” became a later landmark, and “A Trip to Bolgatanga” in 2023 showed the project still changing after four decades.

percussion universeOn-U Sounddub + post-punkBonjo + Sherwood

Where the history is argued

  • The early “psychedelic Africa” phrase came from an external provocation and can sound reductive when detached from Bonjo’s own agency. The project’s history should remain centered on the musicians and their actual collaboration.

How they stand with the others

Mixed withAfrican Head Charge does not represent one generic “African sound”; it is a specific collaboration built from Bonjo’s Jamaican percussion history, Sherwood’s British studio practice and later work in Ghana.

Spirit ofNyahbinghi and other Jamaican drumming traditions are part of Bonjo’s musical foundation without defining the entire project.

Listen

My Life in a Hole in the Ground African Head Charge · 1981 YouTube
Songs of Praise African Head Charge · 1990 YouTube
A Trip to Bolgatanga African Head Charge · 2023 YouTube
On-U Sound · African Head Charge DNAOn-U Sound · Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah interview

People

Bonjo Iyabinghi NoahAdrian Sherwood

Connected

Adrian SherwoodCame together · Sherwood at the controls DubtronicaMixed with · dub as experimental studio world NyahbinghiSpirit of · Bonjo’s Jamaican drum knowledge UK DubTook root · British dub without fixed borders GhanaBonjo’s later home and recording ground

Sources

On-U Sound · African Head Charge DNA on-usound.comFirst-party history of the 1981 basement sessions, Bonjo’s drumming background and the early albums.
On-U Sound · Interview with Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah on-usound.comFirst-person account of how the percussion-led collaboration with Sherwood began.
On-U Sound · My Life in a Hole in the Ground store.on-usound.comOfficial release page confirming the 1981 debut and its dub/African-rhythm framing.

Last checked 1 September 2026

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