Reggae Misunderstood

Reggae Symbol

It is ironic that an avid reggae fan as me does not attend Marley Day celebration in my city, every year it comes round. My reason is the fear of the expected disorderliness at such a show as many misunderstand Reggae. One is sure that at such venues, people with the impression that reggae is an excuse for lunacy will dance uncontrollably until they bump into you from right, left and center thereby causing a fight. Prevention is better than cure. I think about that and stay at home.

Reggae is misunderstood by a diverse social spectrum. During one of the Marley Day anniversaries, the family of the late Reggae King invited different artist from around the world. Each of the invited artists performed a chosen song of the Bob Marley. I watched how American singer and song writer, Chrissie Hynde make a cartoon of her frail-looking body by insisting on dancing reggae-wise. I also always observe how youths in my neighborhood with Reggae music ambition crash out for misunderstanding Reggae by talking like drunks in their music projects. To the potential fan, this is irresponsible and unacceptable.

Sister Chrissie Hynde, to me, justs bordered herself as the place of reggae is never a place of captivity. Rather, it is a place of freedom, which happens to be one of the fundamental philosophies of reggae music.

The great men of Reggae music demonstrated this liberty in the splendor of their works. Bob Marley often demonstrated his regality and his amazing personality that personifies a pastor and the Rude Boy in one. There was Peter Tosh with that thing in his voice that leaves you acknowledging that, truly, he is a messenger from Jah. One cannot fail to perceive Mutabaruka’s chastisement of men who refuse to belief in the equality of man. Don Carlos is always emphasizing the reality of Zion and what one must do to ensure he gets there. Then there is the cool Max Romeo and his blissful controversies and the Burning Spear reminding all black people of their African ancestry regardless of where they may be.

Reggae acknowledges that uniqueness is intrinsic and that it is that very resource that has sustained the culture itself. It believes in the emancipation of oneself from mental slavery thereby allowing your inherent identity to show and make the world a better place. So when next one attends a Bob Marley memorial, he should remember to be himself thereby allowing others to opportunity to have the best of fun.

Freezy, the Happening Berom Boy

Freezy

It started like a joke but the dream of Freezy, the Happening Berom Boy, is growing steadily. It has taken him from Jos where he comes from to as far as Ghana, a few weeks after releasing his debut album titled, Veimot which means “my arrival” in Berom dialect. The album was released in collaboration with Black Diamond Entertainment in Jos.

In 1998, when the tide of Hip Hop became strongest, taking with it everybody, Freezy was also blown by the Music of Bone, Tugs-n-Harmony and also the New York rapper, Nas. He got additional inspiration from his late father who loved music so much and wanted to start a music label by the name of “Galilee.”  He started by miming the music of Bone, Tugs-n-Harmony, taking part in inter-school music competitions in J-Town and eventually releasing his opening album early this year.

Having been inspired by Hip Hop Music, it naturally followed that his music cannot be anything else. The music is Afro-Hip Hop basically. Nigerian Afro-Hip Hop is a mix of local vernacular and Nigerian street English also known as Pidgin English.  In his case, the local vernacular is Berom, a tribe from Northern Plateau State, Nigeria.

The versatile Freezy was the first Jos-based artist to grant an interview to Rhythm FM in Jos with L-D Extra-Large as his host. During the lunch of his album, Terry the Rapman honored his invitation by not just coming but performing as well. It appeared that Terry was impressed and subsequently included Freezy in his tour of Ghana.

The Mecca of music business in Nigeria is Lagos but most Jos-based artists usually drag their feet when it comes to moving to Lagos until it becomes too late. His journey to Ghana meant a lot as it emboldened him to move to Lagos to begin to work towards pushing his dream ahead.

The trip to Ghana and the subsequent relocation from Jos to Lagos also worked to give him the relevant exposure. In Ghana he met a number of artists including, Kingbling of R2B and started learning how the music business works. At Lagos, he started working hard to promote his album by performing at clubs and meeting music promoters. One of the clubs in Lagos where he performed was D-Jakes at Lekki. His collaboration with Durella the King of Zanga in track titled “Teach Me Yoruba” was also a milestone. The single was produced by a notable producer in Lagos that goes by the name G-Ballo.

Back home in Jos his music has found him recognition. His insistence of singing in Berom has led him to meet with the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba. Another traditional ruler in his Zawan ward in Jos South bestowed him with a traditional titled of Davwel Berom Zawan, meaning The Father of Berom in Zawan.

From what Freezy has seen of the industry so far, the greatest challenge is the ability to work towards meeting high standards. He says that when you make your music and think it is good enough there is the need to wait until you find out what the market wants. That you can only know it from music promoters in Lagos who listen to the music and tell you the fans want. The music must reflect the Nigerian feel from all its ramifications and should be danceable mostly.

The Happening Berom Boy says he has heard about the fact that music is a universal language that can be understood by everybody. He however felt it the most while in Lagos. After performing, the track, the “Happening Berom Boy” that has a lot of lines in Berom language at D-Jakes in Lagos, the electric respond of the fans took away any iota of the misgivings he had regarding the universality of the music language.

The artist from J-Town says he loves one of Naeto-C’s line that says Naeto-C is “the only MC with a M.Sc.” He says he loves that line because it encourages young and aspiring artists to get good education as he himself has seen, one must go to school to be a good MC.

Currently, he is doing alliance with number of artists. There are General Pipe and Mallam Spicy in Lagos and Spartan MC in Jos.

Freezy’s birth name is Humphrey Pam and is the first child of a family of four male children in Zawan in Jos South. He went to College of Mary Immaculate, CMI, Zawan in Jos South and subsequently attended the University of Jos where he bagged a Diploma in Theatre Arts.

Waconzy Keeps Industry High

The cumulative success of the Nigerian music industry in the last ten years is that it was able to establish itself as the envy of the contemporary African popular music industry. This has translated to a towering pride in the minds of the Nigerian music fans. This leading status can be sustained only by a steady emergence of new stars. When this is not happening, the Nigerian fan becomes concerned. After a period of drought, the apprehension in the minds of the fans ended with the emergence of Waconzy.

Had I taken time to review Waconzy’s music immediately he came out, I would have subsequently regretted my action. This is because it took me time to fully come to comprehend and appreciate his music. I thank Heavens for this delay.

 It is occasionally sensible to judge a thing by the general opinion of the people. Waconzy’s song I celebrate lingered on the top of the Nigerian music chats for an unusually longer period than most big stars in the country ever did. A veteran DJ of Peace FM Jos, Jeffery Isaac, it sometimes compelled by popular demand to play I celebrate more than once in a single show, usually the Friday Pop Trucking. On Friday 17^th June the MTN music chat again ended with I celebrate at the top of the chat.

From I celebrate, the sound pattern of the bass guitar classifies Waconzy’s song between Highlife and Reggae. This is typical of artists from the south-eastern part of the country. Waconzy appears to allow his life experiences to write his song which is the easiest way to write intelligent and successful songs as music fans will be able to relate well with one’s works.  The lyrical pattern is complex in the sense that it is difficult to differentiate between the chorus and the stanzas.  In the song, the artist adds an exotic feel with a saxophone that gets one wondering who mentored him.

If I have to change anything in the song however, I would replace the vernacular in the chorus of the song with either plain English or at least the Nigerian cultural English better known as Pidgin English. The vernacular is too heavy and appears to repel anyone who don’t understand what is been said.

Whether Waconzy will stand the test of time like the Tufaces and the P-Squares remains to be seen

MI Rules African Hip Hop

Anybody that has discovered and fallen in love with my blog will learn to be patient and tolerant with me. This is because I may not always review every song, album or artist. It is partly because we are not funded in any way. We just find resources elsewhere and use them to buy the records when they are released and then listen and review them. If an album is released at a time when we have other pressing issues, then the review of the album becomes something of tertiary significance. It is due to this reason that I could not review MI’s current album, The Movie, immediately it came out. It is however better to be late than never.” At all at all na im bad pass.”

Having bought the album early in July, I played it too times to discover that the so called Hip Hop DJs have underplayed the album and should bury their heads in shame for underplaying what is about the best Hip Hop Album in the history of Nigerian Hip Hop . Rather, the album has enjoyed greater airplay from all-purpose DJs. It is the reason why the most known songs are one naira and Number One that features Waje and Flavour respectively. Considering the dominance of the featured artists in those songs, which tend to be less of Hip Hop and more of R&B and Highlife, the genres of the featured artists, those songs cannot be said to be the mainstream Hip Hop songs of the album. If Hip Hop DJs don’t play the mainstream Hip Hop songs of the album, then who would?

Listening to the album, it is clear that album has consolidated the extraordinary rhyming kills of MI such that he could now add “The Rhyme Beast” among his pseudonyms. With that lyrical strength of his, MI could challenge any rapper from any part of the world.

In an era when parents are having it difficult to get their children to read their books, MI by his rhyming skills, has thought a lesson to children with music ambitions but who have failed to see it that you must be properly educated to be a good artist. The depth of poetry in MI’s songs shows he was a good boy in class, a boy who respected his teachers and did his homework all the time. It shouldn’t be just English and poetry. It should be all subjects, as a good artist must have broad knowledge. As LD Extra-Large use to say it on his shows on Peace FM Jos, go to school and learn how to rap. MI must have been at one corner, silently listening.

The album has worked to accentuate the strong influence of Lagos on the Nigerian music industry. Usually Jos rappers are strictly Western in their style in the sense that their songs don’t usually have a place for Nigerian vernacular. It is easy to see this from the series of big Hip Hop names to have risen from J-Town or who had J-Town influence such as the Mode-9, Terry the Rapman. Others include Baron, Black Chief, and X-Ray who were among some early rappers from Jos to become popular across the country when their songs were featured in the movie, Out of Bounds that starred Richard Mofe Damijo. One could also see it in LD Extra-Large who has influenced every rapper from Jos either directly or indirectly. When they come to Lagos however, they are compelled to add a Nigerian feel which is the reason why one often hears Juju flair in the music. I think it is fabulous as what is Nigerian cannot really be Nigerian without a Nigerian character. Whoever wants to listen to Nigerian Hip Hop must learn to tolerate who we are. With this, the Lagos influence is helping to bring a balance to global Hip Hop. MI’s album has given its own contribution along this line.

MI by this album has also succeeded in creating an acceptable Hip Hop version of Nigerian pidgin or cultural English as you may want to call it. Nigerian Pidgin English has always sounded dumb when used in Hip Hop music. It is merely due to the fact that we have not found somebody who is conscious of the need to panel beat the language or has the consciousness but lacks the capacity to actualize it. Listen to the track my head my belle to see what I mean.

Every artist has his reigning days after which he ceases to make any meaningful impression.. Just like Tuface, MI in this album has also proven that he is a motivator with a spirit of reawakening. He just compels you to rejuvenate yourself or you are made to look like a dwarf. This is evident in the song anybody where Timaya reinvents the endowment that saw him ascended to that height where we all saw and knew him.

The album also made obvious the liberal mind of the MI. Somebody who is liberal is one who believes that we cannot continue to dwell in the past. He believes that there must be new ways of doing things. He believes that though millions of songs have been made there are millions yet to be discovered. Discovering them is the only way we can get the people to live life to the fullest. The instrumentation for instance isn’t ambiguous at all. It represents something completely new in Hip Hop I never thought that some rappers in Nigeria can be that creative.

In the end I will like to say that though I noticed that there was a minus in the mastering of the album leading to a little noise in the background and that MI often loves to keep people in suspense when the beat starts and continue for an usually long period before the lyrics begin to flow, I score the album above 90%.

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Recognizing Originality in Music

It is possible that you have read about the topic “music originality” in this blog or other writings of mine, perhaps on Ezinearticles and you are wondering why I continue to write about a particular issue more than once. Well, the reason is that the issue of originality is so fundamental to the success of a music project that writing about it so many times should only amount to righteousness.

When it is said that originality is so fundamental to the success of a music project, the pertinent question that often follow is: “does that mean that all successful musicians where original?” May be a certain fraction of successful artists may not have been very original but that fraction must be abysmally low. This is due to a number of factors. One such factor could be that the artist may have been part of a group that was very original. He broke up and started a solo project that turned out sour. He succeeds nonetheless because of the reputation he built for himself while singing with his former group. Sometimes an artist could be closely related to an influential person in the industry and succeeds as a result of his relationship with that powerful individual. Also for certain reasons, radio DJs may decide to give an artist adequate airplay thereby compelling people to begin to think that the music is the reigning thing, leading to the success of an artist that would have been a failure.

I am, primarily, a Reggae fan and coincidentally this genre of music happened to be one in which the issue of originality is taken so seriously. Another genre of music in which originality is a sin qua non is underground rap music as it was from the cradle until T-pain and Bow Wow came up with their kind of stuff and changed the bearing. That is not to say that what Bow Wow and T-Pain have given the world lacks originality. There is however, a compromised emphasis on originality in the style they have steered. The detail about recognizing originality and other factors that determine the outcome of music project such as the steps towards making a song, etc, have been fully addressed in my book, “How to Become a Music Maestro.” Search for the book title and the name, Yiro Abari and the right link will popup.

Bob Marley Lives On

Bob Marley

On May 11, 2011, Bob Marley’s Day was again celebrated around the world. On that day in 1981, the Jamaican Reggae song writer and singer passed on to Zion after a battle with caner.

This year, 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of his death. Despite the long period, the hysteria surrounding his name has never shown any sign of diminishing thus underscoring his legendary position on our planet and justifying his royal regal place as the King of Reggae.

The eulogy surrounding the personality of Bob Marley weren’t illogical. They are comments that were stirred by the influence of his music on all who love and listen to the music. Marley made his music with forethought. He wanted music that will be relevant in generations to come but as it turned out, the music will eternally remain luminous. When one plays the music of his contemporaries, he hears certain elements that remind him that the music belongs to the past. As far as this is concerned, Bob’s music stood in contrast. This is in addition to the political, racial and spiritual messages he sang about. The political, racial and spiritual challenges of his time are still with us today and explain why children of centuries to come will continue to communicate with his music.

The folks of the world belong to different social groups such that while pastors belong to one end, rude boys like Bob Marley, by virtue of their lifestyles, belonged to the other extreme of the spectrum. Music played any individual is reflective of the social range he belongs to. In his music, Bob Marley was able to create a crossbred of a pastor and a rude boy in his music. When one listens to the song, “We and Them,” he understands that the instrumentation is typically that of a ruthless and conscious-minded person. In the song, Marley finds common place with the clergy in the lyrics.

We no know how we and them are go work it out

Someone will have to pay for the innocent blood

That they shade everyday

Oh children mark my word

Is what they Bible say

 

In the beginning Jah (God) created everything

He gave man dominion over all things

But now is too late

You see men have lost their faith

Eating up all the flesh from off the earth

The exotic feel in Marley’s music is one that accentuated his towering ingenuity, creativity and originality. Bob Marley’s music will eternally continue to have a strong influence on our lives and that of our great grant children. Thus Bob Marley will continue to live on. Yes, Rastas never die.

Paying My Respect At Long Last

Charles Ibezim, aka J T Cool, one of the pioneer radio personalities of Peace FM during its golden years, insists his girl friend played a role in their making. He insists that they were Peter and Paul until they came across his girl friend that went by the name of T-square. They then decided to become P-Square. That may be one of Charlie’s numerous antics. The fact however remains that J-Town made them.

The fraternal twins started as dancers going to Plateau Hotel to perform each time a big artist came to town. Eventually they were discovered by Benson and Hedges competition, move to Lagos and found continental fame.

When the Nigerian music industry is mentioned, Tuface with his dominant personality easily comes to mind first. There are however, music acts that have successfully competed with Tuface on record sales. P-Square is one such act. I remember one of their albums sold up to a million copies in just one week. It shouldn’t be a surprise that P-Square have been able to sell that much. There is some kind of charm in their music that seems to attract the youths like moths to light. Sooner had they release an album that you hear the songs dominating the airwaves, as ring tones, in commercial taxis and just everywhere. It is possible that if a survey of the most played artists in Nigeria, foreign or local, is undertaken, P-Square may top the list. If you doubt this, begin to observe this from now onwards

Despite the successes of P-Square, they have not been able to win my respect. They are the only big name in Nigeria whose record I don’t ever buy. Part of the reason is that I never believed in them from the beginning. The second reason is that their music is too adolescent to me. The duo also compound the problem as it is alleged that they have always tried to play down the fact that they were born, raised and discovered in J-Town. I found this difficult to believe. While all the others like M-I, Jesse Jagz and Jeremiah have always proudly identified with this city having been born, raised and discovered in it, P-Square remained stiff-naked regarding their origin. This is unfair because the general belief is that had they been born and raised in Imo State where their parents came from, they probably would have embraced Highlife Music because the culture over there is one that is often reflected in Highlife music. They were however born in Jos and the culture in that city shaped there mentality. If they cannot go and proclaim the city, then of what good are they to us?

One day however, I had the earphones of my mobile phone to my ears and Peace FM played that leading song from their latest album. I cannot even remember the title of the song but it is that song about wherever you are…. am loosing my mind... baby come close you are far way... I love you I love you I love you…. The song sank deep and I finally caved in. I am now looking for the album to buy and review it properly. The duo must however lean to recognize the city. Twins Bread, their father’s bakery that was named after them is still here at Jenta Adamu. They must stop that rubbish.

Melody of Bad Prophecy

As a kid, I was a pet child of my uncle. My uncle’s favourite pastime was the hunting of flying games with a catapult. One day he killed a strange bird called an owl. My uncle offered the dead bird to my friend and I. We roasted it badly but we ate it nevertheless. Later I learnt that an owl is an evil bird with the ability to prophesy human demise.

The owl is indeed evil even from the way it looks. It has a round concave face that resembles the inner surface of a piece of broken ceramic pot. The eyes are horrifyingly round and too big for a bird. Even with these eyes, it has a bad vision in the day time and the best vision in the night. It is the reason why it easily gets killed in the day time. Its beak, rather than pointing straight forward curves backward to point at its owner. Most birds like the canary, robin, nightingale and many more sing beautiful melodies. In contrast, the owl has one of the most groveling and horrifying cries.

As a kid, I have, a couple of times experienced an owl heralding the death of a neigbour and the sad event came to pass. In most of these cases, it perches on a tree around the house. Early this morning, December 21 at about 2pm, I woke up to hear the bizarre sound of an owl on the top of our roof as there was no tree anywhere close to our house. It appears my landlord also heard the sound and bravely came out. The sound of him simply opening the door chased the bird away.

If somebody was going to die in the house, I feared that it might be me. I was the only person in the house that is sick. Though I walk around and do the daily routine of life, I knew that I was ill. Coincidentally, my mum died one day after today in 2005. I was terrified by this coincidence of events. I just prayed and said to God, “if is see the next day then fine. But if I don’t see it, I pray you my soul to take.”

Vuvuzela in Nigeria?

What are the possibilities of Nigeria hosting FIFA’s big boys’ show, the World Cup? Many Nigerians don’t ever think about this –the possibility doesn’t seem to be there. There are too many nations with the most amazing facilities and who are jostling to host the World Cup and for whom the possibility is slim in view of the obvious that the World Cup comes only once in four years.

That pessimistic line of thinking isn’t good however, especially for a nation like Nigeria that pride itself as the most religious nation where all things should be possible with faith. Furthermore, Nigeria is said to have the happiest people on earth. Happiness is a virtue that should serve as a springboard for just anything. In addition, it should be expected that the most creative minds are those of happy people.

I imagine a boardroom discussion of Nigerian football officials in the event of FIFA granting the nation a hosting right of the big boys’ show. In a bid to try to host one of the most spectacular Mundial, there is a chance somebody in the boardroom will suggest the importation of Vuvuzela to spice the tournament. I think that will be one of the irrational boardroom decisions ever taken.

South Africa succeeded with Vuvuzela as a consequence of their tradition of insisting on African values. For example, there was the insistence that an African World Cup must feel African values leading to the slaughter of bulls in the various soccer venues prior to the event. This insistence of African values is what we should learn from the South Africans. In trying to do this however, it will be rational to consider African values that are peculiar to Nigeria. We could request FIFA’s permission to play Nigerian music in the background while the matches are ongoing as it happens in the American NBA. In our choice of the relevant Nigerian music, we will take into consideration; the fact the world may not be able to relate with everything Nigerian. We know Nigerian music that that are highly acclaimed around the world. Artist such and father Fela and his son, Femi could provide a convenient solution. There are others like Sunny Ade and some of his contemporaries. In doing this we must also not forget native music of some Nigerians tribes like the Tivs of Benue State whose music may not be well known around the world largely due to lack of good packaging in the form of CDs. In like manner, we could consider the Irigwes of Plateau State. We could also move to the desert areas of Bornu to bring the exotic sounds of those long native trumpets of the Kanuris.  We could also move to the southeastern corner of the nation to bring something equally amazing from the Efik and the Ibibios. We are more than sand on the seashores; we are more than numbers. Our diversity is equally remarkable and should serve as a solution to any obstacle that comes our way as a nation.

All this however is based on a wild dream. The wildest dreams sometimes see the light of day however. With patience and long time planning, a Nigerian Mundial could be possible. It may not happen in our lifetime but could happen to posterity and for the same nation. When the history of the World Cup is written, it will be said that Nigeria, Africa’s biggest nation also hosted it and used it as a platform to sell African values that are peculiar to it.

Tapping the Untapped

I learnt that the Nigerian Hip Hop music does make an impression internationally especially when it carries that Nigerian flair. By ‘Nigerian flair’, we mean that the rap is in conventional English but with a chorus in the Nigerian cultural English popularly referred to as pidgin or broken English. It is said that Nigeria’s Hip Hop star of the moment, M-I’s song, ‘fast money’, is one such song that finds a lot of international airplay due to the excellent job the guy on the chorus did by decorating the song with an attractive Nigerian flavor.

As far as the demand for Nigerian Hip Hop with the right flavor in the international market is concerned, I am of the opinion that even M-I has failed to take full advantage of that window. As far as I am concerned, that song is the only one with the right Nigerian thing, of all the songs made by M-I that I know. One would have thought that M-I should have engaged the guy in a whole album since people with such gift are rare.

I have listened to Ice Prince’s ‘oleku’. The guy who sang that chorus did not do a good job as his counterpart did in ‘fast money’. Reason being that the native accent in ‘oleku’s’ chorus is too heavy to a degree where I could say that the guy drifted too much into ‘Fuji’ so that the song is more on that side than on the Hip Hop side. Hip Hop lovers are proud of the exclusivity of their culture which abhors anything that is fundamentally exotic or with some elements of clowning. In that ‘oleku’, there is one expression that goes woko woko in the chorus whose meaning, as well as the word ‘oleku’ itself, I don’t know. It is for the same clowning effect that I cannot accept Nigga Raw’s music as Hip Hop. Let us see ‘fast money’ more critically to see what makes it different.

Money slow to enter

Money quick to go

Where money dey go?

I don’t know!

In this, there is hardly any word that an ‘oyibo’ man will not understand. What made the chorus is the Nigerian approach to pronunciation of English words where the voice descends when it should rise as in money where each of the syllables is pronounced with the voice pointing downwards.

Singers that can be careful enough to observe this are rare. It is however the responsibility of the artist to work towards discovering such persons through deliberate talent searches. They will be helping their ambitions as well as the industry. The sky is the limit but we are just scores of meters above the ground.

Music and Nigeria at 50

Today 1st October 2010, Nigeria celebrates its Golden Jubilee as an independent nation following the concession of the administration of the nation to Nigerians by the British colonial government in 1960. At fifty, there is the need to take stock and see if there is anything to party about.

The immediate challenges before an independent Nigeria in 1960 was how to sustain the economic growth, foster unity and sustain our leadership role in Africa. These issues thus serve as benchmarks for appraising the progress or otherwise of the Nigerian nation.

On the morning of our fiftieth anniversary, I listened to a BBC journalists asking Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former military leader, to list what he feels are the successes of the nation after fifty years of independence. The general was more emphatic on the unity of the nation. According to him, the ability of the leaders to ensure the continued unity of a country with a complex ethnic and religious diversity should be seen as the greatest success recorded and for which Nigerians should have something to cheer about. He talked about the civil war his administration fought to keep the nation as one between 1967 and 1970 as one demonstration of the ability of the government live up to expectation. Yes, it is true. The war succeeded in keeping the nation as one. The point of concern however, is that while the people were united, they did so with grudges. It is not that the Ibos or Biafrans never wanted to be part of Nigeria. They wanted it under circumstances that ensured their happiness. The leaders never gave Nigerians generally, this desire up till this point when we are celebrating fifty years of nationhood.

Music despite its amazing influence on people is often taken for granted. Without any iota of contradiction, the music era of the Tufaces, D’banjs, Ashas and the rest has played a remarkable role in uniting the nation. The industry has given Nigerians reasons to be proud of their nation. This young men and women have exported the beautiful Nigerian spirit to all nooks and crannies of the world through their act. Suddenly, Nigerians realized that their country has something that is appealing to the rest of the world after all. The realization is that there is something in this nation after all and many from north, south, east and west are opting to be part of the nation.” People should want to be part of a nation by will and not by coercion. Music has given people reasons to be part of the nation by will.

While I listened to BBC Africa Have Your Say on the BBC on the eve of Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee, listeners from different parts of the continent where asks to say how the Nigerian culture has influenced them. Nearly all of the youths from the Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana listed Nigerian music of the era of Dbanj, Tuface and P-Square and the humour in the parlance of Nigerian cultural English (Pidgin English) as the greatest things that have made Nigeria the apple of their eyes. I noticed that these persons never wanted to mention the negative parts our nation. When somebody loves you, you notice that he doesn’t want to talk about your weaknesses. 

Along this line, the music has also become the greatest weapon of rebranding for the Nigerian nation. We must effectively rebrand to preserve our integrity and remain the leader of Africa. The artists are doing it at no cost to the federal government that has committed billions of naira to rebranding the image of the nation since the time of Gen. Sani Abacha.

Critics have often complained that the current music industry in Nigeria has forgotten the Nigerian culture as compared to the era of Haruna Ishola, Fela, Sunny Ade and the rest of them. These old generations of musicians are most cherished by people around the world who are more interested in the study of the cultural diversity of the world. While they are there doing their cultural studies, we are here experiencing the pains of suffering as caused by poverty. The contemporary music industry, besides working on the Nigerian image abroad, is also generating money to the artists, their families and communities and healing the economic wounds of the nation. That is what matters for now. But I believe that the music is merely a reflection of contemporary Nigerian culture which is gradually succumbing to the West as is the case anywhere else.

At the age of fifty, this is the contribution the new era of the Nigerian music industry has made. Only a few politicians have done this much. The industry has achieved this against all odds such as piracy and the non-challance of the authorities to the ills of the industry despite this obvious capacity to make a remarkable contribution. In view of this, the government should work towards ending piracy and other challenges of the Nigerian music industry that has demonstrated what it can do for the nation. According to the Holy Bible, “the greatest thing about the youths is their strength.” The leaders must know this.

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