Things fall apart
The centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is let loose upon the world.
-William Butler Yeats (1919): “The Second Coming.”
Our music without doubt has fallen apart, our centre of morality cannot hold because mere profanity and lyrical anarchy are let loose upon the Nigerian music industry. We wished for the astronomical growth we are now witnessing in our music world; now it is threatening to destroy some of our core values and poison the thinking of our next generation. Most of our artistes, especially those doing hip-hop and rap, now (to borrow a line in Rooftop MCs’ “Lagimo”) “sacrifice rhyming right just to rhyme tight.” Just for the sake of turning out songs that will automatically become hits, these artistes make use of different expressions, languages, messages and themes that are hardly fit for use in a society that lays emphasis on moral. Many-a societal ill is now either directly or indirectly glorified by most artistes. This leads one to be quick to ask what our regulatory agents get paid for. Is it simply to ‘siddon look’ and ban only songs that tongue-lash the government? Eedris Abdulkareem’s “Jaga-jaga” is a perfect example.
Innocent Idibia, known by all as 2face Idibia, easily strikes one as a handsome and intelligent young man. His down-to-earth nature has become a rarity among people of his age who are as rich and famous as he is. However, his randy nature which has seen him have five children from four different women is a stain on his white apparel. 2baba is even always quick to show that he is not apologetic about that fact. Listen to his collaboration with Sound Sultan and you will get the gist. “Enter the place make we see whether you no go carry belle too” is a line in the song that speaks volumes. Hardly a song you would want your 12-year old child to listen to. Even his latest – Implication – is not in any way encouraging. Certainly, gone are the days of his meaning-making songs like ‘For Instance.’
Another name that pops up on the long list is the free-madness initiator, Terry G. This artiste apart from being the exact opposite of what you would want your would-be son-in-law to look like when he comes soliciting your daughter’s hand in marriage; spreads messages that are unfit for our society. Can someone please give me a break and tell me what free-madness is? Terry G proudly glorifies alcohol and Indian hemp in most of his songs. “Shangolo” and “free me now!” are his most popular catch phrases. Recently he was accused of, most likely under the influence of these stimulants, hitting a disc jockey on the head with a bottle for playing a song by Mallam Spicey. The song is widely believed to deride his personality and the content of his songs.
When it comes to vulgarity in its entirety, only few can rival DJ Zeez! It is no exaggeration to refer to ‘Booby FC’ and ‘Fokasibe,’ (his two most played songs) as top-class profanity. The former is dedicated to girls with large sized busts while the latter is just too full of swear and abusive words. One easily wonders if its wide acceptance, especially among the youth, is a further pointer to the decadence and moral rot eating deep into the fabric of our society. You can hear kids on the street bark “ori e fokasibe” (your head is scattered in its place) at each other without even knowing the meaning. Along that line also is D’banj whose song ‘Tongolo’ was once the toast of all radio and television stations. It is needless to emphasize the meaning of “tongolo” and “koko.” There is a song in his second album titled ‘Suddenly’ in which he sang “she go say…koko yato si koko” which translates as “she will say that my ‘koko’ is different from other ‘kokos’” His Koko Mansion TV reality show which was held last year has been described in most quarters as a disgrace to youth and feminism.
It is a known fact that cyber crime has undoubtedly eaten deep into the fabric of our society today. Hundreds, if not thousands, of the youths have engaged (and are still engaging) in it. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is fighting tooth and nail to combat this menace but it still increases by the day at an alarming degree. What is more disturbing however is the fact that some artistes, all in the name of registering their presence in a studio, produce songs that glorify cyber crime and also boast about their ‘success’ in it. Olu Maintain came out with “Yahoozee,” Danny Young released “Mo Ti Gb’owo Yen,” while Kelly Handsome and Danny Young came out with “Maga Don Pay” and “Mo Ti Gb’owo Yen” respectively. The acclaim with which these songs were received by most young people makes me wonder if this is not a disheartening reflection of the rot in our national system. Thankfully though, this has prompted other concerned musicians to lyrically criticize the trend. Wande Coal asked ‘Who Born the Maga?’ while an assemblage of artistes like M.I, Omawunmi, Rooftop MCs and Banky-W sang ‘Maga No Need Pay.’ The track was produced by the musical guru. Chief Dele Momodu and Fela Durotoye even made guest appearances in the video of the song.
A friend who was obviously fed-up recently posted a comment on Facebook asking why 80% of our singers now sing about Hennessey, Moet, Chandon, Champagne and their likes as if that is what this life is now all about. Alcohol is fast becoming more of a curse in the lives of youths nowadays. The music industry recently lost rapper Dagrin who was involved in an auto accident allegedly caused by over-speeding resulting from drunkenness. Dagrin even in his songs mentioned his addiction to alcohol and hemp. Barely forty-eight hours later, news spread over the internet that Terry G was also involved in a minor accident along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Something needs to be done and quickly too. It is hard to admit but the truth is that our generation needs a revival and a large chunk of our musicians are not helping matters. If these singers want to ruin their own lives with alcohol, drugs, women and crime, let them go ahead and do so. But then, they should ensure that they make it a point of duty to sink alone. No followers allowed!
Mode-Jimi is a Theatre Arts graduate from the University of Ibadan.
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