Nigerian music and the decline of creativity- @king_konfam

The lyrics are the lethal weapons with which every musician out do each other and one of the essential basis for judging a song.

To sing used to be inspirational, engaging, educational and entertaining as well. But not today, and especially not in Nigeria. Artiste usually have this creativity in them where they create gold dust out of ash and turn water into wine. But one way or the other majority of Nigerian singers have shown that they lack creativity or maybe their music require very little creativity.

When i talk of music i’m talking about poetic lines consciously put down whether written or voiced on instrumentals  with consideration for figures of speech, expression and aesthetic prowess and relevance not the pangolo stuffs we’ve accustomed ourselves to in our music industry. History has shown that some of the greatest records that have emanated from this country has come from artistes who have been conscious of what they offer the public and take great pains to create meaningful sounds. Fela, 2baba, MI Abaga are examples of Nigerian artistes that showed consistently how good and refined their music can be.

The Nigerian golden age of music had started decades before now. Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru Adepoju, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and most recently Femi Kuti had all ferried Nigerian music to the international scene with mammoth success. I am not talking about commercial success. D’banj ,  2face, Wizkid, Davido, Ayo Jay, Tiwa Savage had all in recent times put Nigeria on a world map with a plethora of international collaborations and global recognition with Wizkid leading the pack as Africa’s biggest pop star. The world has given Nigerian music a listening ear now but we might just get them disappointed if we continue to condone mediocrity among our current crop of artistes.

When our artistes are criticized and their materials laid bare by music critics and entertainment critics they are quick to bash anyone with the tag haters. B red, Lil Kesh and most recently Yemi Alade have all been guilty of questioning the public’s right to demand for better creativity. They have become so complacent with their works that every mumbo jumbo that is recorded on top a beat is greeted with unmerited enthusiasm.

Many of our present artistes are guilty of this slump in quality music and it is high time we stopped the trend. Take time to write good songs that would last the test of time not just record a song that would be played on radio only for the season. When will the creative energy be put back in our industry? When will we witness the rise of a bold generation of artistes ready to try out  variety of styles and methods to improve the music scene. Not everyone should come to the music industry  with the same skill and pangolo tune. Until that time, i shall continue to criticize the lazy ones and celebrate the ones doing their  thing and making us proud with quality content and great artistry.