The debasing current music
By THE release a few weeks ago of the single, Logo Benz, by Lil Kesh (Keshinro Ololade) and Olamide (Olamide Adedeji, popularly referred to as Baddo) has raised issues concerning the debasing lyrics of contemporary Nigerian music. The song is daring in its brazen glorification of social vices, as expressed in the line: “If money no enter, I go do blood money o.” The vexatious song has reignited a heated debate on how to address the glorification of money obtained from blood ritual, internet fraud and other vices by these artistes. The unedifying social and ethical contents of the music produced by these quite popular contemporary Nigerian artistes debase music and undermine its role as a positive transformatory force.
Indeed, Olu Maintain’s 2007 smash hit, Yahooze, marked the emergence and ascendance of lyrics that have glorified societal ills such as drug abuse, rape and sexual harassment in a style typical of American or British hip hop/drill culture which glorifies gang violence, drug dealing, drug abuse, misogyny, sexual violence and prodigality. This development should be taken seriously. Experience from the British and American hip hop shows that it continues to enjoy significant following despite the general rejection, criticism and stringent quality control and restriction of access to children. Thus, if something is not done to arrest the drift, these debased music form will continue to garner a following among the youth regardless of the negative consequences on the society.
Role models in sound and quality music abound all over the world for artistes to emulate. Many of these models have enjoyed national and global recognition. The Americans have Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, a rapper, songwriter and record producer who is regarded as one of the most skilful and successful hip hop artistes of his generation, with various media outlets branding him the “new king of hip hop.” His work has focused on struggle and spiritual awakening, with messages of repentance from his younger life music and a desire to become a solution and a guiding light. Lamar has received two civic honours. In 2015, he received the California State Senate’s Generational Icon Award received from State Senator Isadore Hall III and, on February 13, 2016, the Mayor of Compton, California, Aja Brown, presented Lamar with the key to the city for “representing Compton’s evolution, embodying the New Vision for Compton.” His album, DAMN, won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, making Lamar the first non-jazz or classical artiste to win the award.
Outstanding musicians like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti have inspired generations. Their songs are of relevance in solving the challenges of the world in which they lived. Their lyrics incorporated a wide range of political, social, philosophical and literary influences that defied existing conventions of popular music and appealed to the burgeoning counter culture. They are better examples for contemporary artistes in Nigeria. While blood money, internet fraud and other vices do not exist because of the lyrics created or promoted by the current crop of popular musicians, the point is that they bear the responsibility to counter a culture that is characterised by such vices through their creativity.
Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power, and “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” in 2016. The Noble Prize for Literature award had previously only been given to giants of literature whose works are highly regarded and spoken about reverently as outstanding works of genius. Dylan’s artistry spoke to the great challenges of his times, the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement.
Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley) is reputed for his prolific output of albums with revolutionary lyrics confronting racism, fighting poverty, promoting justice and embracing peace. His words of wisdom and admonitions mark him out as a transformative international icon, a sage who continues to inspire the world to work towards the uplift of the human condition. Fela developed his unique fusion of African indigenous rhythms and jazz using his native Yoruba language and Nigerian pidgin to reach a mass audience. He sang about social issues and vehemently reprimanded Nigeria’s predatory and prodigal political class as “Vagabonds in Power” (VIP) for selling out their country and mortgaging their children’s future. He was a thorn in the flesh of many corrupt regimes and spoke truth to power, castigating the misrule and mismanagement by Nigeria’s profligate ruling elite.
We do not call on all musicians to become social crusaders. We however underscore the point that music as an art form should not merely reflect society in its vices and travails; it should point the way forward. It need not embrace such vices. The dominant moral uptake in Nigeria’s current popular music debases music because it extols lavish lifestyles, internet fraud, drug abuse and a get-rich-quick-by-any-means mindset. We call on the relevant regulatory agencies and civil society groups to promote songs that encourage diligence and moral uprightness and advance the moral values of society. This can be done through activities that identify and reward artistes who have demonstrated genius while promoting positive values. Works that spread negative values and social vices should not be made accessible to children and vulnerable youths who may come under their negative influence.
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