Ingenuity or Utter Crap?

I’m excited about Nigerian music for very good reasons. I have been listening hard to our artistes in recent times and if my auditory organs are still functioning in tandem with my brain, our musical art is qualitatively gearing itself to compete massively on a global scale.

Some justified cynics might ‘pooh-pooh’ my excitement putting it down to arty exuberance but that’s okay. I am open to criticism, after all, I try to dispassionately review my perceptions vis-á-vis all relevant and available indices before converting it to an opinion. In other words, before I share a perspective with the hard-hearted, open-minded or gullible, I would have brood over it for weeks or months letting it gather self-sustaining momentum. However, to be brutally honest, a lot of trash pretending to be songs are increasingly being churned out of Nigerian ‘musicdom’. So, yes I have to agree with the cynics there.

In February, I attended a ‘much-touted’ album launch party organised by a rave record marketer for its
equally hyped artiste. I refuse to mention names which can put that artiste’s career in jeopardy but really, shouldn’t we be treated with a little more respect when music is being composed?

Besides the fact that the album party was an arena to hobnob, see and be seen, nothing spectacular happened in this particular case to convince me that musical art was entering an explosive stage.

Our ‘unnamed’ artist performed three songs from an album of almost 20 tracks. The performances? Well, if you consider that a large percentage of the crowd was high on something; another percentage just grateful to be counted among the ‘cool crowd’ and obsessed fans, then the artiste may as well have slotted his CD into a disc player and gone to bed. It was that flat, no encore performance.

But of course, kite-high-sycophant Nigerians that we are, everyone cheered and roared after each performance. I sincerely pray that our ‘encouraging’ response would match the returns into the artiste’s bank account from album sales. At the end of the day, this is what counts to the marketer, record label and collaborators.

Now, fast forward to early last month.

On a drive from Ikeja to Victoria Garden City, I spotted ‘short, black’ M.I’s CD being sold by record hawkers and spontaneously I got a copy. Driving to the Lekki-VGC axis anytime from 4p.m on a weekday is the Lagos motorist’s worst nightmare… the traffic is horrendous and nerve-racking. My friend, who was doing the driving (thank goodness!), raised a sceptical eyebrow when I requested that we tried some hip-hop music (many Nigerians born in the 60s or early 70s still find it hard to decipher the whole hip-hop culture that is aggressively gaining ground).

Well, I was eager to pass that traffic-time assessing MI (Mr. Incredible)’s work for a subsequent review. Understanding the nature of my job, the gentleman graciously obliged me.

There begun our rapid conversion from born-in-the-70s-skeptic and justifying-my-salary-reviewer, to duly-impressed-by-talent listeners.

It isn’t rocket science, if you have an astute mind and seek to appreciate art for content rather than aesthetic appeal, then get set for an incredibly (excuse the pun) climatic rush obtainable only through works of pristine intelligence. Spunky Jude Abaga (M.I’s real names) has paid his dues in so short (again excuse the pun) a time. Talent can’t be purchased, it is either you have it or you don’t. Anyone who grew up listening to Snoop Dogg’s 1993 record breaking ‘Doggystyle’ album should listen to M.I’s ‘Talk About It’ and we can’t refute that we have a chartbuster on our hands. It wouldn’t be going overboard to audaciously line it up with L’il Wayne’s 2008 ‘Tha Carter III’ album, which got eight Grammy nominations and won three of the coveted gold statuette.

Creative hardwork, clever cocktail of songs and sheer ability have made M.I’s lyrically sharp album much talked about, the way Beyonce’s maniacal devotion to her abs and choreography makes her one the world’s most fascinating entertainers (hate or love her, it’s the fact).

Feelers from the industry say M.I’s album sold out (over 30,000 copies) the week it was released. Now which artiste or artiste management would not like to hear that eh..? Let’s also not disregard the number of shows or albums he features in/on. Someone said to me recently that maybe M.I is becoming too much of an accessible artiste, which could hamper his musical value. Well, I say make the most of your success M.I because the second you lose your fresh appeal or focus, likelihood is that we will forget about you.

Why am I harping on M.I.? Because debutante music artistes can learn a thing or two from him, Fela Kuti, Micheal Jackson, Victor Uwaifo, Tupac Shakur and just about any other giftedly successful musician.

Making music can be fun and rewarding but it is largely dependent on possessing the commensurate creative talent. However, it’s the wild energy and the resultant lyrical content that bothers the ‘worried-about-our-music-Nigerians’.

With every sense of fairness, as I already expressed, it would not do to bunch every artiste up into a crowd of musical rabble-rousers or empty barrels. Nevertheless, the swelling rank of shallow musicians is rapidly drowning the brilliant voices.

In retrospect, I have always contended that Fela’s inventiveness, though naughtily expressed, was not acknowledge nor hailed by critics; they were too focused on the lapses in his private life.

Interestingly, posterity has shown that the rebel ‘Abami Eda’, controversial life and all, was one of the greatest black music composer and instrumentalist (just listen to his horns) to come out of Africa and I dare say the world.

I’m sure Fela was not thinking about pleasing listeners or achieving enormous record sales when he composed music. He was singing from his heart, with the eye of a prophet, and the ears of a perfectionist about subjects that affected everyone but always got him in trouble with authorities.

Therefore, it gives me goose bumps to think that our new-age artistes are singing about drinking binges, skirt-chasing, wanton display of money etc out of the abundance of their hearts. Through music, (whether in Nigeria, America, Europe, wherever!), some artistes and their videos subtly or overtly seduce impressive youngsters (and foolish adults) to indulge in alcohol, marijuana, and absolute debauchery. What hope for our creativity as a tool for revolutionary social change!!? What about being a positive change agent for generations!!?

We have to stop this fad of making music in compositions so shallow a mosquito can’t even drown in it and lyrics so mentally lazy and egoistic it gives you a headache!! Puuuleeeeeze!

The Nigerian Censors Board and Performing Musicians Association of Nigerian (PMAN) have their work cut out for them. Some measures should be put in place and enforced to safeguard our musical assets and our ears. If this is done, then true gems or diamonds in the rough can be polished to bring out the glimmer which I believe is presently inhibited to properly sparkle within the obtainable music space.

This article was first published in National Mirror of April 1, 2009 and reproduced in Sunday Guardian July 6, 2009