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Before Nigerian music arose where the world could
see it, I was an avid critic of its lyrical component. Some people loved to
sing purely in local tongues. Others preferred to mix English and local
tongues. I was an avid critic of the second category, saying that you should
either sing in English or the native tongue –it makes no sense mixing the two.
At the back of my mind, there was also the intellectual angle. I was, however,
defeated when the music found global popularity.
The absence of intellectual content in our speeches
or writing is a tradition that should be blamed on Britain for the colonial
education they gave. So many times, it
has been said that Britain gave just enough to support its colonial ambition. I
had come to believe this while teaching kids with Ginn Books imported from
Britain, while teaching at St. Maria Gorettis School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Britain deliberately designed a colonial curriculum so that a pupil's
creativity is stifled.
Against the odds, Nigerian music rose to global fame
and is competing well. So, how did the music rise to such standing, despite the
lyrical weakness? The strength of music doesn't only rest on the lyrics but
also on melody, pulse, structure and modesty that enables many to relate to it.
The modesty, plus the let-us-play-together
dance style, is very fundamental to the success of the industry.
The modesty in the lyrics turned out to be a silver
lining behind the clouds. When something
is highly intellectual, only the intellectuals can relate to it. Sadly, this
demography of the world's population is a handful. By this, highly intellectual
genres like Reggae, Soul and Hip Hop failed to pull a huge population of the
world's population into their fan base. Now, Afrobeats by its weak intellectual
content is engaging everybody.
Even the success of the Nigerian movie industry
boils down to the emphasis on a simple storyline that everyone can understand.
Now, the industry is ranked among the three most watched globally, collecting
the cash.
Thus, it is about tradition, not weakness. This is
because, when Nigerians travel to foreign lands and find strange traditions,
they can adapt and succeed. I want to believe that Nigerians are just waiting
for this conversation to register in their minds. When this happens, a Nigerian
songwriter will have it in his mind that his song should have a conscious hue.
When this happens, things will change –it has always been one thing at a time.
It is, however, important to understand that not all
Nigerian music lacks intellectual content. If you do a survey, you will see
that this is true.
Yiro Abari is the author of How to Become a Music
Maestro.
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