Unstable electricity, no fuel, shaky economy, yet we have no conscious music.

The ‘sure’ money lies in the government, and that’s what the artistes aim for. Music which speaks against the government will most likely make an artiste enemies in power, and that would mean the end of that income stream.

We live in hard times in Nigeria. The country is on a very heated streak with the never-ending specter of the northern bogeyman – Boko Haram – the lack of electricity (which at some point on Thursday, the country generated a record 0 watt/volt/whatever), and the unavailability of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol).

The times are biting, the heat in the country is numbing, and the long fuel queues petrol stations are disturbing the flow of traffic. Simply put, everyone is feeling the heat.

But where are our musicians?
From the 1960s into the early 1990s, The icon Fela Kuti called music ‘a weapon’ and Nigeria‘s military a troop of ‘zombies’ as he encouraged the country’s people to speak out against their corrupt government. Within the same time period, Miriam Makeba and Salif Keita used their platforms to bring awareness to cultural injustices in South Africa and Mali, respectively. They addressed issues plaguing the continent, and the impact of their lyrics can still be heard and felt today.

As all other art forms, music is a medium for communication; messages in form of thoughts, opinions, stories and experiences, shared by the musician to his listeners. Many acts are tuned to societal challenges which are currently affecting their primary communities, using music as a powerful universal language employed to form, shift or calibrate the mind of its listener. The artists have in their arsenal, a weapon that can be wielded to influence an entire generation.

The dearth of conscious music in mainstream pop culture is a recurring theme in Nigerian music circles. In the early 2000’s the leading movement of that time which originated from a vortex of pain and discomfort experienced in the slums of Ajegunle was conscious. African China, Baba Fryo, Daddy Fresh, Daddy Showkey, and many others captured mainstream recognition due to their songs on the ills of the society. Also, the 80’s reggae artistes, including Majek Fashek, Orits Wiliki, Ras Kimono, Victor Essiet and The Mandators, were fervent users of their platforms to speak against societal ills.

Today, the music has moved away from the struggle. Mainstream Hip-hop sells the Western influenced dream, with immersive consumerism, brilliant debauchery, materialism and shallowness sold as the aspirational dream. The niche market for subgenres are gone, and the artistes are turning a blind eye. While the masses groan under the weight of the societal problems, no song from the artistes are reflective of this nor tow the path of persuasion for the government.

The music industry these days is a selfish and ruthless enterprise. Capital intensive and greedy, artistes are no longer the reflection of the people. Instead, due to their seemingly opulent life, they are regarded as lords over the people. Deep down many acts don’t hold dear the belief that their music can be tweaked to affect lives. Heck, they believe it’s not that deep, hence, why worry about being a ‘voice’.

Away from that, people complain about the commercial value of conscious music. However you attempt to demand nobility and lofty ideals from musicians, there’s also the business aspect. Music is showbiz, and the economics of conscious music have to add up. Due to a limited revenue streams, artistes have been heavily reliant on shows and performance fees. The government which controls a huge slice of the financial might of the country book artistes for shows ranging from weddings to meetings, to parties and many more. A conscious artiste might have the people on his side, but that following won’t certainly be transformed via record sales to revenue. For all the hype about albums and records, in reality, only a fraction of the sales come back to the creation of music. The rest fall into the black hole of corruption, lax copyright laws, and piracy.

The ‘sure’ money, therefore, lies in the government, and that’s what the artistes aim for. Music which speaks against the government will most likely make an artiste enemies in power, and that would mean the end of that income stream. That, my friend, is called career suicide. In more concise words, personal gain, or the promise of it has prevented mainstream Nigerian acts from releasing songs on our current struggles.

Is this ideal? No. Is it what we want? No. Should mainstream acts become a voice of the people? Yes.

But that will not happen. In this music business, money rules the art, and idealism sits in the prison of realistic greed.



more on http://entadaplace. com/conscious-music-dead-nigeria/