International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Nigerian Popular Music: Social Mediation Amid Musicality
Dr. Saeedat Bolajoko Aliyu
Dept. Of English and Linguistics,
Faculty Of Humanities, Management & Social Sciences,
Kwara State University, Malete,
Kwara State, Nigeria.
Abstract: Music is a fundamental feature of the African society. One of its indispensable values is its entertainment function. Music has also been used overtime to engender positive social changes in society. Using this popular medium, traditional African musicians and poets have used their composing ingenuity not only to please their audience but also to lampoon, satirize, moralize, preach and call for individual and collective changes or conformity to established social, religious, or cultural norms, as the circumstances dictate. In Nigeria’s recent past, the late Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, Sunny Okosun, Ebenezer Obey, and Osita Osadebe are examples of musicians who used their music to comment on the challenges of life in Nigeria and elsewhere. They also gained popularity from the entertainment value of their various kinds of music. However, commercialisation brought about by the realities of the socio-political and economic conditions of life seems to have made the music of emerging Nigerian musicians lose social relevance. This article studies via document analysis the thematic trends in some of the songs of Asa, a popular Nigerian musician who has received wide acclaim across the world. This paper concludes that social relevance and commercial success are two states which can be achieved simultaneously by emerging Nigerian musicians without apprehension, especially in a world which rates commercial success as a parameter for popularity.
I.INTRODUCTION
Art forms are manifestations of the artist’s introspections. They are creative forms which reflect the interpretations of personal, social, political or economic realities of the artist’s world or perceptions of it. The socio-economic and political realities of the African existence and indeed that of the entire world have necessitated the artist to go beyond using his/her art as a means of entertainment only. The role accorded the artist in traditional Africa has been one which Bamidele (14) describes as “striding between the image of the sustainer of the community and its institutions and the prophet or seer”. Contemporary artist’s now view their roles as that of advocates of change; socio-political and economic. Writers, musicians, painters, sculptors among others who are conscious of their roles to the society, use their art forms as mediums to call for the much needed change in their societies. Perhaps this is why Soyinka in the prefatory notes to Opera Wonyosi defines his perception of the role of art as exposing “the decadent, rotten underbelly of a society that has lost its direction” (xi). Kgositsile (155) quoting Feinberg stresses that “the revolutionary poet, concretizes the dreams of people for a