Music
is in our everyday expressions and experiences. We make music, play it,
listen to it, dance to it and appreciate it. No matter whom you are or
where you are or what you do, music is in your life. It is all around
you, in your house, your place of work, your place of worship, your
social gathering and in fact, everywhere.
Can anyone imagine
our world without music? Impossible. Music is indeed a "universal
language" which we all speak and understand, no matter in what racial,
ethnic, linguistic or classified vehicle it is conveyed. Once you hear
good music, it moves you; it touches you and it transforms you, unless
you are not a living member of the human society. Music has always been
part and parcel of Africa, right from our traditional folklores, songs,
dances, festivals, initiations to socialisations.
The power of music
to act therapeutically has also long been recognised. Music can be
effective in conjunction with other interventions in promoting
relaxation, alleviating anxiety and pain and promoting well-being
through the production of particular endorphins. It has also been used
to promote appropriate behavior in vulnerable groups and enhance the
quality of life of those who cannot be helped medically.
No wonder, we have
all heard of a music reggae-style hit called "Sexual Healing" by Marvin
Gaye, that American soul music legend. The development of recording
techniques in the latter half of the 20th century has revolutionised the
extent to which most people have access to music today.
Indeed, there is a
crucial need for more systematic investigation of the ways that music
can impact on groups of people in social and cultural settings in a
given society. This is where African popular music bears a striking
relevance in intellectual investigation. And this is an important area
of music study which Trends in African Popular Music: Socio-Cultural
Interactions and the Reggae Genre in Nigeria by Ikenna Onwuegbuna has
come to help address. The author is not only a foremost music teacher at
the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he is also a practising Afro pop
musician.
His new book then
is not just a paedagogic adventure but an authoritative and passionate
exploration of the dynamics of African popular music with specific
emphasis on the Nigerian Reggae genre. Published in 2015 and coming in
both soft cover and e-book format, the new book has a total of 150 pages
of enlightening insights and illustrative examples, well structured
into six chapters.
The author takes on
preliminary issues as Our Aspiration, Problematizing the Issues,
Justifying the Rationale and the Implication.
Essentially, the
writer explains the overall imperative for his rigorous exploration of
African pop music in the context of Nigerian Reggae in the face of
scarcity of similar literature. Other issues of discourse by the author
are SOCIO-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS, which explore Socio-musical Events
Functional Popular Music and Nigerian Reggae Music. DEFINING POPULAR
MUSIC forms are the fulcrum the author discusses in details from
Definitions According to Specifics, Stylistic Definition,
Sociological
Definition, Process-based Definition, Theory-based Definition, African
Popular Music, Ethnic Pop, Interethnic Pop and International Pop. The
reader is also effectively taken down a historical journey with respect
to THE REGGAE GENRE, showing us History and Etymology of Reggae, Growth
and Spread of the Genre, Development of Various Sub-Genres, Modern
Trends in Reggae Music, and Nature and Features of Reggae.
Interestingly THE
NIGERIAN REGGAE SCENE comes alive before our very eyes as we grasp The
Period between 1960 and 1980, The Period between 1980 and 2000, Nigerian
Reggae in the Present Millennium and of course, A Brief on Sonny
Okosuns-the Pioneer Exponent. His detailed discussion of the evolution
of reggae in Nigeria is particularly enlightening. This is because the
evolution actually turned into a revolution as the new exponents of
reggae came on the scene with diverse hits after the pioneering Sonny
Okosuns' voice faded with his 1979 release of No More Wars which did not
contain a single reggae tune.
The revolution of
reggae then started in full swing in the 1980s with popular hits like
Tera Kota's Lamentations for Sodom, Mandators' Crisis, Evi-Edna Ogholi's
My Kind of Music, Fashek Majek's Prisoner of Conscience, Ras Kimono's
Under Pressure and Orits Wiliki's Tribulation. During the same period,
several other reggae artistes emerged from various parts of the country,
releasing pure reggae albums. Yet, there were also other musicians who
did not release pure reggae songs but gave impetus to the revolution
with one or two reggae tracks in their albums. Such cross-over artistes
include Christy Essien-Igbokwe with Time Waits for No One, Onyeka Onwenu
with Tide is High, Oby Onyioha's Raid Dem Jah and Mike Okri's Let Your
Love Show, among others.
By the end of the
20th century, according to the author, "Afro-reggae had solidified so
much that in an interview with the BBC World Service in 1999, David
Hines, the lead singer of Steel Pulse and an authority in reggae, told
the world to look to Africa for authenticity in the art; and he went
ahead to name
Majek Fashek of
Nigeria, Alpha Blondy of Côte d'Ivoire (both in West Africa), and Lucky
Dube of South Africa as ideal exponents." However, by the 1990s, the
Nigerian reggae scene started witnessing more dancehall entrants like
Baba Fryo's Denge Pose which heralded other popular Ajegunle-Lagos bred
musical stars like Daddy Fresh and Daddy Showkey. Even though these new
dancehall reggae artistes released their works in the late '90s, it was
in new millennium 2000 that their influence bloomed across Nigeria.
Today, general
music production in the country has gone digital and contemporary
artistes rely heavily on digital manipulation of their voices and beats
unlike what obtained in the time of Sonny Okosuns. It is no surprise
then that those who today could be called the reggae musicians of the
21st Century are not really pure reggae exponents but crossover artistes
from Afro-hip hop. Thus reggae has in one way or the other influenced a
majority of recent and today's popular young Nigerian musicians like
Tuface, Faze, P-Square, D-banj, African China, Marvelous Benji, Sound
Sultan, Felix Duke, Nigga Raw, Timaya, Terry G, Duncan Mighty, Iyanya,
Flavour, Omawumi, Patorankin, Cynthia Morgan, Tiwa Savage, Davido,
WizKid, Olamide and many others, all with dancehall hits.
The author takes us
by the hand to the time of perceptive REFLECTIONS on Approaches to Pop
Music Analysis, Musical Approach, Socio-Cultural Approach, Ideological
Approach, Historical Approach, Problems of Popular Music Studies,
Suggested Solutions to the Problems, Recommendations and Prospects and
Summary and Conclusion.
Figuratively,
Onwuegbuna also provides us with graphic representations of a basic
reggae rhythm-emphasising the "one drop" pattern, a representative score
of Sonny Okosuns' HELP album, representative score of Majek Fashek's
SEND DOWN THE RAIN hit song, as well as a representative score of
Evi-Edna Ogholi's ONE KILOMETRE album.
According to Dr.
Michael Bitz in his Foreword to the book, the author's work is
especially fundamental because he combines a practising musician's
understanding of music with a musicologist's perspective on how music
influences our society and vice versa. "This combination is rare, and
this book demonstrates the depth of his knowledge and the scope of his
research. Ikenna Onwuegbuna focuses on popular music, since this
represents the voice of the people. Traditional songs may be important
for cultural heritage, and classical music can be very powerful
in terms of
sonority and compositional sophistry. But it is popular music that most
people turn to as a representation of self-identity. Onwuegbuna's unique
investigation into Nigerian popular music helps us understand the role
of these songs in Nigerian culture including its origins, developments,
and future trends. Because this book includes both textual analysis and
musical transcriptions, it provides us with a fresh perspective on the
importance of music in life and society."
Interestingly, this
reviewer can still recollect fond memories of events which are believed
to have prepared the author for his present level of scholarship in
music. In the mid 70s, Dr. Onwuegbuna as a school pupil was already a
celebrity among us his peers. He was admired and seen as an icon of
success in school.
Two mentors that
influenced Onwuegbuna's foray into music happen to share ancestral
linage with this writer. They are Teacher Inyama - the popular band
master of Abakaliki days - and Rev. (Prof.) Kanu Achinivu. But perhaps
the unsung heroes then that influenced him were Super 5 International
Band and Chike Rogers , as both were musical bands that hit the national
scene from Abakaliki. So, by reading through Onwuegbuna's new critical
book today, this reviewer is reconnecting to his first music class in
1978 taught by Sir M. M. Okoye at Nnodo.
There is no doubt
that Trends in African Popular Music is coming at an opportune time in
the evolution of music in Africa, and especially Nigeria. As we all
listen to African pop music everyday and enjoy its resonant expressions
in diverse forms, especially reggae, one hopes all interested
stakeholders in music can appreciate their musical experiences beyond
mere entertainment.
Today, pure
Nigerian reggae is not as upbeat as it was some years ago because its
practitioners have been overtaken by new exponents of Afro pop music who
have been releasing one dancehall hit after another and winning awards
and acclaim across Africa and the world. However, there is hope for the
revival of Nigerian reggae as Fashek Majek, one of the early exponents,
is now making a comeback after years of lull and oblivion. Hopefully,
Ikenna Onwuegbuna's new book too can help revive the spirit of Nigerian
reggae and restore it to its pride of place in our everyday musical
experience while also generally enhancing scholarship in musicology in
Africa and the world.
Without mincing
words, Trends in African Popular Music comes highly recommended as a
veritable book that would help all music lovers, practitioners, students
and the general society appreciate the peculiarity of African popular
music and its trends. His epochal work will profoundly influence the
next generation of musicians and music scholars in Nigeria and boost the
availability of relevant literature on the subject in Africa.
-Onwumere writes from Lagos.
JamBaze
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