Hmm Monsieur Ikhide, nah wah oh. I read the 234 Next piece and a certain D'Banj lyric flashed unbidden through my mind "Mo gbono feli feli bi amala to jina gangan, don't hate me cause I'm hotter than you" :-).
In all seriousness, I don't think there's anything wrong with artists borrowing from other cultures and I'm still blown away by lyricists like the late Da Grin (RIP) who meld Yoruba, Pidgin and English, even if his videos would be a little familiar to anyone who follows American gangsta rap ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3VFshyz0o&feature=feedf ). You really hated Sound Sultan's Mathematics ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VT6ySbQ9g )? A good friend heard Tuface Idibia's African Queen played on a radio station in Barbados and asked why it was so popular there. The answer was "there're very few new songs out there that honor African/black women in any way. This is one of them and it sounds good."
No question there are different levels of talent in Naija, but I think you should reconsider your sweeping dismissal of an entire generation of musicians. My two kobo :).
Lola
From: Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com>
To: "USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com" <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; "Ederi@yahoogroups.com" <Ederi@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 2, 2011 5:13 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Stop the Music. Please!
In my youth, my favourite cartoon character was a musician called appropriately, Cacofonix in the comic Asterix. Cacofonix was so awful, each time he threatened to play music, he was quickly tied to a tree and his mouth sealed to ensure no instrument met his lips. Most of today's Nigerian musicians remind me of Cacofonix. From D'banj on down, they should all be tied to mango trees and their mouths plugged with fake Naira notes, never ever to play music again ever. Nigerian music is undergoing a major crisis and we should be concerned. Mimicry is the word; mimicry of the worst sort. Just like our jheri-curled accented pastors, Nigerian musicians seem to have figured out that mimicking anything Western pays. And so just as Nigerian pastors are climaxing to the beat of dollars in the pulpit, overdressed characters with contrived accents are shuffling about like drunks on stage, grabbing crotches and convincing the world that there is perhaps not a single musical talent in Nigeria. The lyrics appear to be repetitious odes to materialism, and more troubling, an open invitation to misogyny. The untalented should not profit from their mediocrity.
Enjoy the rest of my rant here
- Ikhide
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