Music: For the Mind & Soul

Music is a language for the mind and soul – it resonates in each one of us strong needs, desires and passions – it is different things to each one of us and sometimes a comfort and sometimes a message - a reflection of our varied tastes and personalities…

I have fondness for string based instruments and certain songs rip into me and unleash a torrent of goose bumps – the adage is that you are witnessing the passage of an entity. I couldn’t careless if it was an entity or a bowl of spaghetti – I just love the feeling that such songs evoke…

Music unites and cuts across language and cultural barriers…
I may not understand a word of the song or any part of its lyrics but I feel it somewhere - this is especially true if the song resonates within you.

I could give numerous examples – George Michael – his songs: (Faith & Freedom) – old songs but I still feel that twitch in my head when I hear those songs…

Could I fail to mention – Take that (now disbanded) and their song: (Want You Back for Good). The first time I heard the song – I went into a trance of contentment that left me praying that the song shouldn’t end… It ended and I renewed my relationship with the rewind button – it was a cassette player for heaven’s sake…

Then there’s the Corrs, and a personal favorite of mine: (I will runaway) – I confess to running away every time I listened to or heard that song – I would wake up in the dead of the night just to listen to that song after which I would fall asleep promptly…

This is not to say that I don’t have any preference in the modern category – think R Kelly, Lighthouse Family, Seal, Shade, Michael Jackson, Mario etc – the list is endless.

Of course - how can I talk music without a reference to the Nigerian scene?
It cannot be left out of the round up as that would be smacking of unpatriotism – I can say that there is an almost systematic improvement in the quality of our songs – of course I have come to the very realistic conclusion that we’re better off singing about our peculiar reality and situation (think 2FACE, Faze, Tribesmen (now defunct or splintered), Jerimayah Giyan, Obiwon, P Squared) although variations do exist – A Nigerian is first of all a skeptic and/or Cynic and this makes for an attitude found both in the artist and the audience from the word go.

In most of our songs we talk about the challenges of life: girls,boys, men, women, hardship, poverty, suffering, breakup, makeup, cheating, pain, death etc
Then there is the need to harass and criticize the ruling class/government to change or make changes so that Nigeeria becomes better: Think Edris - (Nigeria Jaga Jaga)...
Perhaps this makes the quality of our songs fairly hard to define – think Majek Fashek: (Send down the Rain) – which I chanted when I was much younger and probably accounted for the reason why the floods for that year where unpresidented but the song still has a timeless ring to it…

Mode9, cino, sasha, Ruggedman cover our rap scene and even when shows like Idols, Nokia First Chance provide us with a genuine opportunity to discover talent even at the risk of ear cancer and/or an ear drum rupture…
We are still willing to take the risk - even for those who actually created a new category titled "how not to sing…"

For the esoteric but truly African music forms think FELA, Lagbaja, Femi Kuti and recent new comer ASA with their strongly African interpretations, each a paradigm in his/her own right.
On a daily basis – we are discovering new and diverse ways to express out thoughts, needs, passions, motivations, interests through the music medium.


Music embodies a philosophy - a way of life, a means to describe life in rich melodic details. A language understood by the soul.

With music there are no countries or boundaries – there is just us and the swirling mist of melodies defining movements for the moment and bring us together.
A few links to get you started on the journey of discovery for Nigerian music and her various styles:

Check out:
1. http://www.naijajams.com – for some takes on the music scene by Nigerians for Nigerians and others….
2. http://www.nigeria-arts.net/Music - generic approach that should provide some additional revelation.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Nigeria - Wikipedia also have a take on the music scene in nigeria
4. http://www.radiopalmwine.com/ http://music.calabashmusic.com/world/africa/nigeria
6. http://www.agidi.com/music.html
7. http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2005/feb/271.html - Article titled: WHITHER NIGERIAN MUSIC?
8.

If you happen to cruise through Youtube or Google – do a search for our artists(as listed above) and listen to some of their songs and you’ll agree with me that we’re finally getting our shit together…