Music is deeply integrated in Nigerian Culture. In Nigeria during my early years, music was often used to entertain people during parties and social gatherings. Presently, Music plays a very vital role in life which includes cultural activities, traditional ceremonies, and other social gatherings. In my culture, it is impossible to go to a party that does not play music or celebrate an event without music.
I grew up to love music as not just a sound pleasant to the hearing but also an important domain to various aspects of our life which includes, Cultural gatherings, Social Gatherings, and traditional ceremonies.
Music in my culture can also be seen as a means of educating and teaching good culture and moral behaviors to live peacefully in Society. I know of several historical cultural kinds of music I have learned from listening to. Although not all of them tend to educate us on peaceful living and moral behavior they serve as an eye opener to the reality of this life.
There are several cultural Nigerian traditional music that educate and and has shaped Nigerian Cultural heritage. Some of these include
- Fuji (Yoruba)
- Highlife (Igbo)
- juju (Yoruba)
- Apala (Yoruba)
And Many More.
I listen to all of these genres because they are inspirational in the present day most music relates to relationships, love, and sex, but this traditional cultural music educates us on survival, living, peace, love, respect, greetings, and a lot more.
There is a Nigerian Musical artist I love the most and I still listen to his songs to date. His name is “Beautiful Nubia”, his songs are very educative and relate with my way of life perfectly, educating me on different difficulties I find to understand life.
Foreign Music And My Culture
Foreign Music has had a significant impact on Nigerian culture through the liberalization of different music styles and artists. The style and Culture of foreign music are entirely different from my Culture. Foreign music involves different styles and genres of music like reggae, Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, Rock, and a lot more. Nigeria is known to be the origin of Afro beat which was first used and introduced by Fela, the king of Afro Music. Fela was the founder of Afro-music music and to date, most of Nigeria's music is built around Afro-music. Modernizations have brought the advent of different styles and genres of music and everyone wants to try different styles of music because they love the tunes. To me, I still believe Afro music is the best tune ever made to date.
Many artists try to incorporate international styles and collaboration into their works and this has also gained popularity in both our music and theirs.
The truth is there is good music everywhere and there are also good Musicians. The online web 2 and Social media have made music globally for everyone to listen to and enjoy. And people in Nigeria tend to enjoy the vibes they get from these songs, forgetting that the style and culture of the musical artist is different from ours. So this music can either pollute our thoughts or positively influence us.
Another way foreign Music has affected and influenced my Culture is through Dance. Different artists worldwide come up with different dance challenges on social media. This has also contributed to the growth of Afro beats.
Please share your thoughts on how music has shaped your Culture, let's celebrate the Musical heritage of our countries together.
This is My Entry for #Juneinleo #inleo Day 26, of June. You can Participate By Clicking Here
