Why Do Igbo Artistes Sing In Yoruba?

E don make front page.

Like you did'nt see where i wrote "just to name a few"

I have to like this K16 of a guy.
he has to be Igbo to rap with it.

you guys are missing something?
This is a no brainer. if you are a big artist, it is almost natural to make music in other tongues. your location or where you come has little or nothing to do with it. in addition to the list you guys put up, please add, dbanj, kenny st brown etc etc

naeto c did it but im almost certain he knows zilch about yoruba lingo
any one his right senses will expect p square to single in any lingo.

This is where I have been advocating strong identification with roots embedded in upbringing.

Afam if you are worried about extinction of the ibo language, the least of your worry is that some Igbo artistes are singing their chorus in Yoruba.

You should be more worried about the common trend of people giving their children English names and not speaking the local language to them.

It gets my blood boiling when I see the so called urban people speaking English to their toddlers and thinking, when these kids reply in English, then it reflects on them that they are "cool".

The trend is accelerating in Nigeria due to inferiority complex. When I meet a child that can not speak their language (most of the time, the parents give a lame excuse that "they understand but cannot speak") or have some "funky" English name (e.g. Shawn, Natasha, Clifford, Marybelle, Donatella) then I immediately regard the parents as idiots and lose respect for them especially those that live in Nigeria.

I wonder how many forumites hear can claim their children SPEAK (not hear only) their local language.

Another silly excuse you get in UK is that they can not speak it because they are not growing up in Nigeria.

German kids in London speak German,
Italian kids speak Italian,
Arab kids speak Arab,
South American kids speak Spanish,
Indian kids speak Hindi,
Pakistani kids speak Urdu,
HAUSA kids speak Hausa,
Other Nigerian kids blast funky English. How moronic!

Shame on you all that you kids can not speak their local language if it is one of the major 6 tribes in Nigeria.

I agree with Afrocynic. when in rome, act like the romans.

Igbo artistes sing in yoruba because most if not all of them run their career in Lagos state, which is still a yoruba state no matter how 'cosmopolitan' people say it is. Though this whole singing in yoruba thingy isn't limited to just igbos, most artistes trying to make it in Lagos have sung at least one song with yoruba in the chorus. 2face is not igbo and I'm pretty sure he has used yoruba in a song.

I especially liked how D'banj did that 'igwe' song although the song didn't make a lotta sense, he tried. It shows some unity among the Nigerian ethnic groups, sorta. Y'all need to stop the ethnocentrism.

Well the music isn't listened to just in Lagos,  it's global. I think some Igbo people don't value what they have and in a bid to sow that they are 'with one Nigeria' they would easily throw away their own culture. You can see this not only in language, but in dressing as well.

@Sagamite, I totally agree with you. Afam4eva is also right that it is rampant among igbo people.

However, for those living abroad, i can understand if parents give their children english names. Americans sure know how to butcher people's names, trust me. You can call them their native name at home but please, save yourself the headache, I'm so serious.

There's nothing wrong with bearing english names even in Nigeria, it's just when the name has no meaning whatsoever that it ticks me off. eg. names like Shanelle/chantelle like WTF?

Nigerians living in Nigeria who can't speak their native language are just hilarious, i mean the parents. Not being able to speak your language in your own motherland is just funny to me. I've NEVER met a hispanic person, [whether born in their country or not] here in Boston who cannot speak spanish.


Right, I'm also sure that the majority of those who do listen are from cities too maybe not only Lagos. I'm sure people in Imo, Anambra, and other igbo states barely listen to those music. And I'm darn sure hausa people, who are rarely in other states other than their own listen to those music. This leaves people in other cities like edo, maybe delta - they don't have much of a choice anyway as they're not among the 'main' ethinic groups in Nigeria. [no pun intended]

Basically, whatever lagos produces, people gotta accept because Lagos is filled with people of almost all the ethnic groups and the ones in other cities have to listen to what Lagos has to offer as their own city isn't producing any stars who actually reside in their city. For example 2face Idibia, his family back home(whatever state he's from) would be forced to listen to that Lagos music because that's where he's making it.

ditto

The discussion is about whether the Igbo artistes are neglecting their culture, not whether if Igbo music sells.

Read the posts my friend, it is being suggested that igbo musicians need to sing in yoruba to sell.

Get it into skull that English is not our language, it's just an official language, na only us britain colonize?
Were the indians not colonized by the british as well? how many Bollywood have u seen acted in English.

@TOSINADEDA,
U neva go Maiduguri. . . u still dey around

With this your 'location' I now know why you have been a veteran of many bans.

Why did u name just three, do u want me to name people who bear English names.

Chiogo, I completely disagree with your statement here.

Would you give you children Yoruba names if you live in Abeokuta so that Yoruba people will not murder the Igbo name?

Or will you give your child a Chinese name if you are transfered to China to work?

I don't have an English name, if anybody is struggling to say my name, at best, I will give them the leeway to used a shortened version.

I bet most parents will find it revolting to name their child a Chinese, Russian, Somali or Zimbabwean name but they are more than happy to use an English one. Why? Did I hear someone say inferiority . . . . . . . . .



Invalid arguments!

Japanese, Spanish, Italian, German etc kids that are second generation (that is there parents grew up in the UK) are taught their language before being thought English. And they have never lived or even plan to live in their home countries, so it is not their major language as they are British.

Only Black Africans (except Somalis) think it is fashionable and not a big deal for their kids not to speak the indigenious language.

I see Italian kids speak their cockney English to friends and break into Italian when they get home and speak to their family but Nigerian kids speak spe spe spe fone rubbish outside and inside the house.

Even I have seen Nigerian parents boast to me that their UK-based children can speak fluently in Japanese when these kids cannot speak their mother tongue.

Was born in Enugu, moved to PH, at age ten(1996) i left Port-Hacourt for lagos.