The fact that "world music" has become a very flexible concept is once again proven by Soundway Records' 'Doing It In Lagos', a double compilation album full of Nigerian disco, funk, boogie and pop from the nineteen eighties. It was the era when large oil reserves were discovered in the south of the country, providing Nigeria with an unprecedented economic boom. Almost from one day to the next, the politicized afrobeat was replaced with disco, funk, boogie, and pop: the party was on! The songs on 'Doing It In Lagos', the work of producers as Jake Sainthia, Lemmy Jackson, Tony Essien, Odion Iruoje and newcomers like Nkono Teles and Tony Okoroji, hardly differs from similar American and European productions from the same period, and a single track excepted (Toby Foyeh's 'Ore Mi'), English was the language of choice. On the first disc mostly excellent disco and funk from which we want to highlight 'Enjoy Your Life' by Oby Onyioha and Danny Offia & The Friks' 'Funk With Me'. The second disc offers a bit more variety: Odion Iruoje's 'Identify With Your Root' immediately made yours truly think of the early hip-hop experiments of Sugarhill Gang, and Lexy Mella's 'On The Air' was undoubtedly influenced by Herbie Hancock's iconic 'Rockit'. 'Doing It In Lagos' is certainly not recommended listening for purists of African rhythms, but nonetheless remains a fascinating collection, containing several tracks of which the original vinyl editions often fetch serious prices on the internet.