NIGERIA & MUSIC TODAY

NIGERIA & MUSIC TODAY

Music, within these few years surprisingly has frisked a great deal as a thriving business in Nigeria. Music, casually branded as organized sounds pleasing to the ear is currently what you can call the craze in vogue in Nigeria Entertainment industry. It was totally contrasting eight years previously when Movies was at the Crest of Nigerians’ entertainment blooming business list.
Back then, musically Nigeria was identified mostly by traditional, Afro beat and Gyration and more of such calibers of music. Then Nigerians who love some styles of music like rap, RnB, blues etc, go purchasing music by foreign musicians. Nonetheless recently hip-hop and rnb styles of music are at a snail's pace creeping into the hearts of music loving Nigerians. 

Before I continue let me enlighten us a little on music, its account and types. Music is the art of science of Ordinary tones or sounds in succession, in combination and in temporal relationship to produce a composition having unity and continuity. It’s also vocal, instrumental or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody or harmony. One can be said to be musical when one is having an interest in or talent for music or having the pleasing harmonious qualities of music. Since the innovation and development of music, music has been since ripped and alienated into genres and types, differentiating its sundry musical arrangements. Music since then has been grouped into types according to its sounds and stuffing. Types of music like

Folk music: which is a traditional or composed song typically characterized by stanzaic form, refrain and simplicity of melody. 

JAZZ: An American music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by propulsive syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, and varying degrees of improvisation and often deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre. It was created by African American Musicians.

RAGA: One of the ancient traditional melodic type of pop music West Indies that contains features of Reggae and hip-hop.

BLUES: A typed of slow music with strong rhythm developed by African American musicians in the Southern U.S

REGGAE: popular music of Jamaican Origin that combines native styles with element of rock and soul music and is performed at moderate Tempos with the accent on the offbeat. 

SALSA: Popular music of Latin American origin that has absorbed characteristics of rhythm and blues, jazz and rock.

ROCK AND ROLL: This is a type of American music popular in the 1950s with strong beat and simple tunes.

ROCK: A type of loud modern music with a strong beat played on electric guitars and drums and characterized by a persistent heavily acute beat with much repetition of simple phrase and other country, folk and blues element.

COUNTRY: Music derived from or imitating the folk style of the traditional music of southern U.S. or of the Western Cowboy.

RAP: A type of modern music with a fact strong rhythm and word which are spoken fast not sung.

POP: Modern popular music of the sort that has been popular since the 1950s usually with a strong rhythm and simple tunes.

SOUL: Music that originated in black American gospel singing, it’s closely related to rhythm and blues and is characterized by intensity of feelings and earthiness. It also expresses strong emotions.

RHYTHM AND BLUES: popular music typically including elements of blues and black folk music and marked by a strong beat and simple chord structure. It also has an element of jazz.

Africans more often than not are acknowledged for their significance in music and musical activities like dancing. a good number of thriving types and styles of music are Negro-invented, both in African and in Diaspora. Music like soul music, Reggae, Rap, RnB, JAZZ, Hip-Hop, blues and scores of others were developed by blacks in slavery. Like you might have generally noticed, Reggae, soul music and blues are slow music with strong emotional intensity. These kinds of music were invented to utter their sorrowfulness all through those epochs of slavery as they also share and eat their soul food. Although other races joined and started singing these kinds of music, habitually blacks are the most successful in it.

Africa en bloc has many types of music, Different music from diverse tribes and region totally controversial, Music like makossa, sukus, afro beat, juju, tuji, highlife and many more.

Nigeria alone had invented various kinds of music to this current dispensation. Music like fuji, juju, afro beat, garala, suo, afro pop gyration etc. They as well love various kinds of foreign music like, highlife, makossa, Rap R & B, blues reggae and pop. You can hear Nigerians play these kinds of music often in their homes, leisure places and on Radio and T.V. These days most Nigerians are switching from the original local traditional music like afro beat, Garala, Suo and others to rap, R and B, pop, Reggae, blues and highlife. In the bid of changing and adapting a new-fangled form of music was made-up (afro Hip-Hop or Afro-pop). This is the fusion of the native and foreign sounds, language, style and lyrics gave birth to a brand new interesting and melodic type of alien music afro Hip-Hop. This type of music currently over takes the music market, it sells higher and any other type of music in Nigeria.

Many musicians already adapted the new type of music. Listed like Dbanj, 2face, 9ice, eldee flavour, T.J and many more. Many rappers also learnt to rap in Nigerian local languages, like rugged man, Nigga raw slow Dogg, Big-lo and 2 shots. While others like M.I. Nactoc, Ikechukwu mode nine Sasha, Ill bliss, sauce kid and smile rap in pure English. Some singers still sing in pure English singers like, 2 face, dare, Banky W, Djinee, Faze, P-square, wande coal and the host of others.

Critics basically complain that music in Nigeria today is drifting basically from the customary “sense making” music it used to be. They say Nigerian musicians these days do not make much sagacity like their pioneers, legendary singers like Dora Ijundu, Onyeka, onwenu, Kris Okotie, Terra Kotta, Alex Ziffo, Alex O, Ras kimono, Felix Lebarty, Fela Anikulapo-kuti, sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Orlando Onoh, Stephen Osita Osadebe, Sonny Okosuns, Ayinde Barrister, Killinton Ayinla, Majek Fshesk and the host of others. Manifestly, music today is bare, so unfilled that lyric-less artistes like, sky b and J. Martins sell hard. The emptiness of the music is due to the preference of music lovers of this present dispensation, they don’t listen to music for lessons but for fun and as far as it has a beat behind some words and can be danced too, everything is alright. They by and large brand those types as ‘commercial music’. Despite the colossal disillusionment, disenchantment and disappointment in music today we still have new legends to reinstate the good attributes of the old ones. Musicians like 2 face idibia, Asa, Dbanj, P-Square, Faze, Nigga Raw, Eldee, Mode nine, Rugged man, African China, Daddy showkey, zule-zoo, Ab cowboy, sonny Nneji, M.l and lots more, who produce music with strong lyrical content. These musicians by themselves have made an immense impact in Nigeria music today. Breaking through intricate and thorny barriers and delivering to the audience what has not been heard in the account of music. Achieving much fame themselves through good music, Bringing home awards to the country.

P-square throughout the whole Africa has much fame and fans and pulls an enormous crowd wherever they go. 2face who also has much prominence had the opportunity for his song “African Queen” to be used in a Hollywood motion picture “Phat Girls” collectively with mad melon and mountain black “Danfo Driver”. 9ice, who has won scores of awards, was also the one of the few African entertainers invited to Nelson mandela’s 90th birthday. He was also once nominated alongside America’s lil Wayne and the game which it was later rumored that he won. Dbanj one of the most loved and richest Nigerian musicians in 2008, he’s also known for his vast stage shows and performances all over Europe. Asa a female singer from Nigeria brought home the pride of Africa’s 2nd best singer 2009. Rugged-man also loved, won a contract with Nokia, for his songs to be used as in-built ring-tones for Nokia phones in 2010, hilarious ain’t it?

These musical gurus have re-written the history of music in Nigeria without a fountain pen. Nigerian music is thriving vast in Africa and beyond. With the right gadgets and equipments more will be achieved. So when wide-reaching legends like bob Marley, Michael Jackson, tupac Amuru Shakur, B.I.G, Stevie wonder, Marvin Gaye, Brenda fassie, lil Wayne, Luther vandeross, snoop dogg, Celine Dion, Jay-Z, Madonna, M.c harmer, Bobby Brown, Barry white, lucky dube are mentioned our Fela kuti, Osita Osadebe, Oliver D-coque, Raskimono, Sunny Ade, Dbanj, 2face, P-sqaure, 9ice, Asa, M.I. Daddy showkey etc will also be mentioned.

By Udensi “The Vyrus” Nnagoziem