THE.AMAKA:

i do see your point.
youre gonna need facts to back that up.
i have to disagree because most of these naija artist (even though the ones you named were cool)of today are becoming TOOO WESTERNIZED. people need to stick to how 2face was when he first came out.
some of the latest naija music sounds too american and i wouldnt even know it was by a naija artist if i heard it on the radio or something.
i was just thinking about this the other day.
even though our musicians are nigerian doesnt mean they are sticking to "naija style" type of music.
i can't believe some of the garbage coming out these days.
i can't listen to naija music thats too westernized cause it doesnt seem authentic or original.

Amaka, I beg to differ. While you are right that some Naija artists do make music that sounds like the Western style, the most successful ones usually use, say Yoruba and Pidgin and Ibo, to communicate on their songs. I really don't think Naija Music generally sounds too American; most of them have a distinct style that is now being a patently Naija tune.

all of this MTV and their nonsense is poisoning Nigeria.
even about 8 months ago i was thinking about how Mnet Africa shows a lot of shows from the US.
i even heard another cable provider was showing shows like Real World and Real and Chance of Love or something like that.
all i could think was "WTF DOES THIS CRAP HAVE TO DO WITH NIGERIA AND WHY ARE THEY POISONING OUR PEOPLE?"
even shows like Big Brother Africa have followed suit in that disgusting habit.

so like i said, TV in Nigeria is heavily western influenced and the music seems to be turning that way too.
we are surely doomed.

I'll give Nigeria and a lot of African Countries 30 years before you start seeing people that were born and raised their whole life in Nigeria but can't speak their own tongue (I'm guilty and i can't speak my own tongue but i was born here in the states and never picked up the language when spoken to me as a child)
some of our prized traditions might be looked at as "Wrong" and some people stop practicing it because its not what the west is doing.
even my mom was telling me a month or so that the pastor in our church in the village said our Oghu or Ogwu culture was wrong and demonic (our festive celebration during rainy season where the boys wear white and dance for money while masquerades fill the place. lasts usually 45 days) and that its against our religion. can you believe that shizz? he brings his imported Christianity and tries to wipe out the culture and traditions that were existing LONG before Mr. Whitey came with his bible. Yes I'm a Christian but there are times where i will draw the line.
everyone was signing the petition to get him out of our church and i think they are still looking for a new pastor.
rubbish man.

well that was my 2 cents! lol

Princek12:

Amaka, I beg to differ. While you are right that some Naija artists do make music that sounds like the Western style, the most successful ones usually use, say Yoruba and Pidgin and Ibo, to communicate on their songs. I really don't think Naija Music generally sounds too American; most of them have a distinct style that is now being a patently Naija tune.

well with all the new recent naija artist ive been hearing, it's only a matter of time before that becomes the new style (well i hope not) but so many of them feel they have to "be like americans" to sell music and i hate that crap.
i wanna keep it alive though and not let all this new useless people change the face of naija music for me.
thats the only way i really identify with it. I LOVE IT THE WAY IT IS!! if it starts sounding too much like american crap, it just becomes the same old thing to me. nothing authentic. nothing that will make me wanna show my friends and say "this is some naija ish right here" lol

@THE.AMAKA

I WISH YOU MEERY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

@POSTER
WHAT IS CULTURE

Amaka, I don't know you started listening to Naija music, but I really doubt the sound will change to being like American. The reason is that the first generation of contemporary Naija music, mid 90s to early 2000s sounded like American, like it was almost a clone of American music, and it flopped heavily, locally and internationally. Nigerians did not embrace and, of course, foreigners did not embrace it also. Later, artists started using more indigenous beats heavily laced with pidgin and mostly Yoruba and sometimes Ibo, and the music has now become popular because of its authenticity.

So I doubt that artists will revert back to a style--the American style-- that have been proven not to work. That will be plain silly, and Nigerians are not that silly. Also can you name specifically 3 popular artists that you think their song sounds too American.

THE.AMAKA:

in TV and a lot of naija music it is heavily western influenced.
i think naija is on the same boat as a lot of these countries you're talking about.

Is music the only part of culture, there are other parts of culture,

ifedy:

Is music the only part of culture, there are other parts of culture,

yeah you're right but music is more basic. other things you need facts to prove.
so i really don't know what to tell you on that one.
i don't know much about these other countries, feel free to share!! lol

Princek12:

Amaka, I don't know you started listening to Naija music, but I really doubt the sound will change to being like American. The reason is that the first generation of contemporary Naija music, mid 90s to early 2000s sounded like American, like it was almost a clone of American music, and it flopped heavily, locally and internationally. Nigerians did not embrace and, of course, foreigners did not embrace it also. Later, artists started using more indigenous beats heavily laced with pidgin and mostly Yoruba and sometimes Ibo, and the music has now become popular because of its authenticity.

So I doubt that artists will revert back to a style--the American style-- that have been proven not to work. That will be plain silly, and Nigerians are not that silly. Also can you name specifically 3 popular artists that you think their song sounds too American.  

really? interesting.
okay i hear you. maybe you're right.

Amaka, I believe you are right about the influence of MTV and other Western TV shows on Nigerian culture, though. Also your pastor should be fired. lol

dstv is the biggest culprit!

well culture is dynamic, In life, most things do change over time, culture is a way of life and tend to be influenced in various way, i'm not in support of dumping our culture but there are things that could not be changed more especially in this age of modern technology, its not only in nigeria its happening every where

My opinion is that globalization has affected many countries and cultures, including Nigeria.  I think there's something natural about people wanting to emulate a culture that has essentially conquered theirs.  It's a form of "follow the leader", isn't it? 

When the British Empire was in existence, Nigeria aped British values more.  Now that America is more dominant, Nigeria has followed most of the world in embracing most things American.  Of course there are some who will strike back with deep-seated cultural pride and rebel against the dominant force (e.g. many middle-eastern cultures), but by and large, globalization is an extremely powerful force. 

This is nothing new; the Greek and Roman Empires affected the world so dramatically that we still feel the effects today in various spheres of life: writing, language, systems of government, etc. The "American Empire" is simply doing the same, through the far-reaching means of global media (satellite/cable TV, movies, etc.).

I encourage the preservation of indigenous cultures wherever possible, for it adds spice to our collective lives on this planet.  However, I do accept that some cultures and sub-cultures will go extinct at some point.  That's just the way it is.

Lack of Technology.

^^^^^ do you have a brain ?

The issue is the mentality of the people, they feel the western culture is preferable than theirs. It didn't start today but during colonial rule. The reason musicians are still singing in their native languages is because of the older people who are not learned yet. Think of 100 yrs frm now will they still sing in their native languages?

Our so-called ettiquette is killing us,importing foreign culture into our land is not doing any good to our culture.You can imagine a Nigerian eating eba and egusi soup with fork and knife(just because a white man eats rice and chicken with fork and knife),its very wrong and its as inappropriate as eating amala and ewedu  soup with a chopstick.

Fork and Knife yes---- for hygenic reasons but CHOP STICKS KE ?

why not? don't we want to immitate the chinese too? afterall some of us are now more american than the americans themselves!

TV + Inferiority complex.

This is a very interesting topic and one I am very passionate about. It is true culture is dynamic but dynamism itself doesn't mean extinction and that is the biggest threat facing our different cultures in Nigeria. I have lived in the UK for a while now to understand and value what it means to be bilingual; to appreciate the fact that garri/pounded yam and egusi/ogbono or oha soup is the best food in the world IMO; to value the importance of your next door neighbours. I can go on and on about what I miss about my indigenous culture. I try as much as possible to speak to my little boy in my own language (he is in England so will learn English from the owners of the language) and get him to eat Nija food. I think it is possible to preserve or at least live out some of your cultures but like many have pointed out on this thread, inferiority complex is at the crux of the matter. I fear for some of our children 10 - 20 years down the line, there will be so many that will suffer from identity crisis.

neily:

The issue is the mentality of the people, they feel the western culture is preferable than theirs. It didn't start today but during colonial rule. The reason musicians are still singing in their native languages is because of the older people who are not learned yet. Think of 100 yrs frm now will they still sing in their native languages?

Anne_Marie:

Our so-called ettiquette is killing us,importing foreign culture into our land is not doing any good to our culture.You can imagine a Nigerian eating eba and egusi soup with fork and knife(just because a white man eats rice and chicken with fork and knife),its very wrong and its as inappropriate as eating amala and ewedu  soup with a chopstick.

YESSS OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Lacrisma:

Fork and Knife yes---- for hygenic reasons but CHOP STICKS KE ?

UHMMM, NO!
has anyone died from this "hygenic" flaw? come on!! people were doing this in the stone age, did they die? whats wrong with eating with your hands if you have washed them beforehand?

If this thread was created in the late 80's and 90's, I'll agree. But today the youth are more enlightened compared to those times. We understand that being educated does not mean you desert your culture as it was thought back then. More parents these days are ready to teach their kids the language than ever before.

Back then, no child wanted to listen to any Nigerian artiste, if it was not Michael Jackson, forget it. But these days there's a pique in interest and a need to identify oneself to his/her culture.

dont see why amala and ewedu cant be eaten with chopsticks though (occasionally)

not that i dont get your point @ Anne-Marie

ifedy:

I know but tell me how many african countries u ve seen that preserved their culture than nigeria

what do you classify as "culture preservation"?
and also, I don't think there is any such thing as "Nigerian Culture" except maybe pidgin. culture is mostly referring to ethnic culture ex yoruba culture, igbo culture etc. Therefore, it won't seem to you that other countries are preserving their ethnic cultures because you never hear of them.
Also, the less a country is in contact with the western world, the more their culture is preserved. so the "poorer" a country is, in terms of material wealth, the more their culture is preserved.

if you look in the news and see all those Africans being touted as "primitive" those are the ones that are preserving their cultures extremely well and blocking out western influence as much as possible.

yeah anything from america is civilization. anything from africa is stone age

Not appreciating the beauty of our culture.

why the free advert, my friend?

our culture is retrogressive,if u luk at d western culture it enhances dia lives but here its in our culture 2 marry more dan one wife (even wen u know u dont have d means 2 provide 4 more dan one)-increas in poverty n illiteracy,it is in some warped culture here in naija 2 circumcise a female (so she wont be promiscous)-increase in mental,physical n emotional pain,it is in our culture 2 wear stupid aso ebi (even if u nid 2 borrow money 2 wear it)-increase in debt.Bleep naija culture!!!!! followers of naija culture r bunch of hypocrites, so called culture is just increasing our poverty n we r oblivious of dat fact.westerners dat dont have a culture of morality r dey not much more developed n civilized dan we are? our culture is bull shit

well, I personally havent seen any declining interest in Nigerian culture.

if you have seen any cultural decline among us then this thread just having two pages is a very strong evidence.

@ poster
Western education and technologies have caused individuals to abandon their identity and heritage, and adopt alien cultures and values without even realising it.

When you have millions of Nigerians living in poverty, without healthcare, no jobs, no housing, no education for your kids, no security, no NEPA, no bloody nothing , do you seriously expect people to care about preserving "Nigerian culture". When the government of our country does not give a damn about it's own people then the culture of the country will eventually die. Your people are your culture!

there are other lands living in poverty who still won't sell their culture like we are doing here.