The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Nigerian Music Industry

Over the years, Nigeria music has made great impact with Highlife, Apala, Fuji, Juju, and Afrobeat genres under the custodian of great artistes such as Bongus Ikwe, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Christy Essien Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, King Sunny Ade, Osita Osadebe, Ebenezer Obey, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Haruna Ishola, Yusuf Olatunji, Oliver de Coque, Salawa Abeni, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Felix Liberty, Oritz Wiliki, The Mandators, Mike Okri, Charly Boy, Evelyn Edna Ogolie, Peter Side Otong, Tina Onwudiwe, Stella Monye, Funmi Adams, Blackky and Majek Fashek.

These artistes were not just commended for their musical dexterity, but the lyrical content of their works. It was more of a competition of inspiring and creatively crafted poetic words, such that no one could pinpoint who the best artiste was. However, with the current trend, where rhythm rather than lyrics that sells songs, many have come to argue that the ‘now’ music has declined in standard. From watered down

Sunny Ade

lyrics that do not correlate to singing different songs on same beat, the state of Nigerian music industry leaves much to be desired.

Apart from serving as a source of livelihood, the old generation artistes also used the platform and their God given talent to pass ‘positive messages’ that impacted positive ideals to people all over the world.

Culture purists blame the regulatory bodies and media, particularly, the terrestrial TV station and online media for their constant broadcast of obscene music videos. They are of the opinion that many Nigerian artistes are always trying to be like American musicians rather than be themselves. They say majority of the artistes are not versed and knowledgeable enough about the rudiments of music.

They argue that a lot of young folks who patronise these artistes do not have the ears and patience to listen to good lyrics; instead they prefer songs they can make them dance. As long as the beat is good, people will buy the CD even if all what the artiste is saying is, ‘free madness’, ‘kolomental’, ‘swagga maga’ and other babbles as they give credence to mediocrity.

Speaking with The Guardian, Alhaji Nafiu Ogungbayi, a retired director with the Federal Civil Service and now a community leader noted that the artistes of old wrote and sang songs with many positive messages that promoted great values and spoke of hope, joy, love, peace, tolerance, and forgiveness. But today, little or nothing can be said of new generation musicians, as they have bastardise the art of music with lewd lyrics and nude videos.

Rather than promote positive values, “they sing praises of alcohol, marijuana, women, sex, nudity, money and drugs, which have done nothing but corrupt and pollute the minds of our children and youths, who are fast taking to such,” Ogungbayi noted.

He added, “today, our boys no longer wear their trousers normal, they put it at their buttocks and call it sagging. Also, young women are used as sex objects as they display all sorts of pervasiveness such as blatant show of their nakedness whilst doing all manner of dance shaking their buttocks.”

For Nneka Akwunwa, a corporate executive, the rot and decadence is not only in Nigerian music, it is more of a global trend, but that doesn’t make it acceptable in any way. She stated that if it is this bad now, what will happen in the next 50 years?

She said, “I see some music videos and I begin to feel embarrassed for womanhood. I feel bad to see would be mothers, shamelessly expose themselves as objects of sexual pervasion and immorality.”

“When you listen to some songs, they are not telling you anything edifying or reasonable, but how they are about getting high alcohol and drugs; showing how big a girl’s buttocks are, how rich they are and how they laid girls. Sometimes, I feel its only core gospel music that I can enjoy.

“Despite this malady in the music industry, there are those golden oldies that never seem to lose meaning and inspiration, and long after trash has reigned and is forgotten as is always the case with mediocrity, those classics remind you what a blessing music is, and should be to us,” she said.

Reggae star and Rumba Style crooner, Ras Kimono, had in an interview said the old artistes, are not comfortable with the current situation in the music, lamenting that what many of the younger musicians are doing today is pornography in name of music video.

“When we came up, there used to be Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), which cross viewed and cross checked anything before it goes on air. Back then, it is not everything you just put on air, but nowadays, I don’t even know whether those bodies still exist. They allow everything because in Nigeria, everything is possible, anything can go,” he said.

“In Nigeria, you hear some records play on air that can never be played in overseas. Abroad, you can do one single in three versions. For example, I Wanna Sex You Up, I Wanna Flex You Up. It is the duty of the NBC to know which one is to be aired in the radio. You can play I Wanna Flex You Up in the radio, but not I Wanna Sex You Up. Here, anything goes in Nigeria.

Olamide

Olamide’s Story For The Gods is one song with beautiful rhythm, but the lyrics glorify rape and abuse of women in its entirety. The talks about getting loaded with local aphrodisiac, a combination of Dongoyaro, Monkey tail (locally brewed gin) and Claro (marijuana), and then going ahead to have a forceful carnal knowledge of a lady.
The Chorus:
Mo ti mu dongoyaro, dongoyaro,
Dongoyaro and monkey tail, monkey tail, monkey tail
Aro bami gbe claro, claro o, claro o
I want to do sina (fornication) today, sina today
She said she cannot wait o
She said it’s getting late o
She said she want to faint o
Ah, story for the gods
Now she saying mo r’ogo (finished)
O ti kan mi l’apa o (he has broken my arms)

Wizkid

O ti kan mi l’eyin o (he has broken my back)
Story for the gods, the gods o
In My Bed by Wizkid is one song that parades lyrics and verses that have no business whatsoever with one another. “The way you whine your body gimme thunder, I go follow you bumper to bumper girl, I go follow you bumper to fender.”

The Starboy Records CEO in the song, kept singing about needing a girl’s body in his bed, and then switched to hailing names of some of Nigeria’s prominent personalities, saying, Agbaje eleniyan, Fashola eleniyan, Tinubu eleniyan, Otedola eleniyan, Baruwa eleniyan, Aliko eleniyan, Saraki eleniyan.

I want your body sleeping in my bed e,
I want your body sleeping in my bed e.
You got me going crazy, Oh girl I can’t explain it,

Yemi Alade

Your body so insane, Oh girl I can’t replace you.
Da’Grin, while alive, was one new generation artiste that released a complete album with enough party songs and the amount of bragging expected from a rapper. But it also had some songs, which spoke about his struggle and by extension the struggle of an average Nigerian. So also is M.I’s Talk About It, and 9ice’s Tradition with such evergreen songs like Street Credibility, Pete Pete. Both albums had the right balance of different subject matters.