State power, postmodernist identities and conflict in contemporary Nigerian popular music

Abstract

Over the past decades, conversation has continually revolved around the different functions—social, cultural, economic and political—of the burgeoning scene of Nigerian popular music. While some scholars have argued that the music scene has seen depreciation in terms of “meaning” and social relevance, others have argued that this scene manifests the complex frames of contemporary postmodern identities. Regardless of what the arguments are about its specific functions, it is evident that music has played a significant role in helping to understand the complex intersections between culture and the Nigerian postcolonial state. This article examines the relationship between Nigerian popular music and the Nigerian state. Specifically, it looks at how popular music engages with the politics of resistance and compliance. It examines how, on the one hand, the music attempts to transcend state-determined social barriers, but, on the other hand, in seeking financial legitimacy, paradoxically functions as a conveyor belt for State determined consciousness. In examining these contradictory paradigms, the article attempts to map the complex meanings and significances of popular music within the matrix of contemporary state power in an African postcolonial setting.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Diekara Oloruntoba-Oju is researcher and a creative writer. She studied German and French at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Her research interests are in Youth cultures and sub-cultures of resistance in Africa as they are reflected through corporeal and textual agencies.

Notes

1 The term was borrowed from Peter Manuel’s 1995 article “Music as Symbol, Music as Simulacrum: Postmodern, Pre-Modern, and Modern Aesthetics in Subcultural Popular Musics.”

2 From Nigerian song “Local Rapper” by pop artistes Reminisce, Olamide and Phyno

3 In contemporary urban youth language, this expression is often used in sexual terms to describe sexual acts. Thus, here, it can also be read as “I’ll have sex with you”.

4 This line and two that follow play on a jargon song popular among Nigerian kids.

5 Tunji Oyelana is a veteran Nigerian singer, dramatist, and folklorist.

6 This means to daze. In the context, as shown by the supporting lyrics, it is also marked with sexual underpinnings of sexual bravado.