Another way of putting bluntly, Poor lyrics by so called Nigerian artistes make Nigerian music unintelligent. It’s the plain truth. This brilliant piece in National Mirror – Nigeria (posted below) confirms what I had written in the past about the dire state of lyrics by Nigerian artistes. it is ‘cringey’ to say the least. I wouldn’t want to embarrass any artiste by reproducing lyrics, however, I firmly believe, minds would mature. Music lovers’ ears would be unblocked and lyricists would begin to take there rightful position in the business. That will be the next phase I predict. Right now, the ‘beats’ phase is desperately seeking for intelligent lyricists. – Jide Salu

Fela – Afro-Beats founder.

Song writing has never been taken seriously in the Nigerian music industry, but as the sector widens its scope, the time is ripe for the various stakeholders to look in this direction.

Three years ago, American R and B singer, Keri Hilson posted on her twitter page that she listened to a Nigerian artiste song, which kept kept repeating the same lyrics “Make you leak yaa speakers”. That post set tongues wagging in the industry.

Notably, Nigerian music made one of the greatest headlines with the evolution of the Highlife, Apala, Fuji, Juju, and Afrobeat genres with custodian of great artistes like King Sunny Ade, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Salawa Abeni, Ayinde Barrister, Christy Essien Igbokwe, Oliver de coque and Osadebe , just to mention a few. These artistes were not just praised for their musical dexterity, but for their lyrical content. It was like a competition of inspiring and creatively crafted poetic words, such that one could hardly pinpoint who the best artiste was.

However, the younger generation seems to have a penchant for dancing to the beat, without listening to what is being sung. Only few notable artistes have pulled through and set themselves apart consistently; Sound Sultan, Asa and Jude Abaga, MI, notably.

Derin Adebayo, a music critic and entertainment essayist says the problem with the artistes is lack of diversity and originality; adding that everybody wants to make that huge hit at the expense of sacrificing their unique creativity making the songs are getting sillier by the day.

“With the current trend in the Nigerian music industry, where rhythm, rather than lyrical content, sells, music producers with knack for quality beats have become the power house for most singers.

Determined not to be left out of the glamour and fame that greet singers, some of these gifted hands on the music console have taken their trade higher by combining their production skills with lyrical wits”

Some schools of thought have it that it is because Nigerian musicians are always trying to be like American musicians instead of being themselves. Some say majority of Nigerian artistes are not versed and knowledgeable enough about the rudiments of music.

2Face – Nigeria’s Superstar singer and song writer.

Some others believe that the problem is a worldwide phenomenon and it’s because a lot of young folks who patronise these artistes do not have the ears and patience to listen to good lyrics instead they prefer songs they can dance ‘shoki’ to. As long as the beat is good, people will buy the CD even if all what the artiste is saying is ‘free madness’, ‘kolomental’, ‘swagga’ and other babbles. The bottom line is people enjoy mediocrity.

Elder Steve Rhodes, a veteran journalist blames the media in his own point of view.

“I blame the media because the kids are bombarded with garbage from outside, you know. And let’s face it, it’s easy. You don’t have to do much. What work do you have to do? Get a drum machine, put down a theme and chat away to it. Where is the music there? There is no work required. The skill is minimal”

The industry is more about entertainment and money making than the quality of materials, which is why most of the hottest artistes now will fade away in a couple of years because their music has no deep meaning. But artistes like Darey Art Alade, 2Face, Asa and a few others will be respected, not just because they’re are top selling, but because the quality of their music is very good.

Derin Adebayo continues by giving American rapper, Kanye West as a very good example of an artiste with lyrical quality.

“He wrote his verse on the song ‘Run this town’ for three months. Expectedly as a result, it was one of the best verses Kanye ever penned. Many foreign rappers claim to freestyle most of their verses, but if you listen closely to the lyrics you would find that claim hard to believe. How could Jay Z have freestyled “22 two’s” a song where in the first verse he used the word “two” (and its homonyms ‘to’ and ‘too’) 22 times or how could Nas have ‘freestyled’ ‘Rewind’, a song where he told a story in reverse. Great songs such as the ones above are born from passion and a desire to be the best; the artists push the limit of creativity because of a genuine love of their art.

“Over here in Nigeria, it seems like every musician writes songs just to make the next ‘Jam’ or ‘club banger’. It is hard to see any artiste with any passion, emotion, or even a drive to genuinely improve his or her skills. Artistes seem to have given lyrics little importance in a song, it seems all our musicians care about when writing songs is for it to have a catchy beat, and then they try to create a new slang or trend in the song and that is all”, he adds.

Another disappointing factor in our music is the lack of subject matter. It is almost torture to listen to some albums from beginning to end because it’s just so repetitive. Almost every song is a ‘party song’, or someone bragging about money or something similar. The most surprising issue about this is that with all the suffering and struggle in Nigeria our artistes almost completely ignore it in their music. Nobody sings about the timeless values of honesty.

M.I – Nigerian Rapper.

Giving credit to who it’s due, and God resting his soul, Da’Grin was one new generation artiste released a complete album. It had enough party songs, the amount of bragging expected from a rapper, but it also had some songs which spoke about his struggle and by extension the struggle of an average Nigerian. So also is NOSA, a Chocolate City Gospel artiste whose album is exceptional. Also a lot of respect to M.I for his debut ‘Talk about it’ and 9ice for ‘Tradition’, both albums had the right balance of different subject matters. We need more albums like these and fewer albums filled with party songs and bragging.

What can be done to curb this menace? A budding artiste, Adeleke Victor Matanmi (Brain) also lends his voice:

“Well, I believed many artistes are all about “blowing up” now now and they don’t care whether their songs have messages or not. Even if you are singing a party or club song, there are ways you put your lyrics together and people can picture what you are saying and relate with it. The bottom line is that, many artistes are lazy and they limit themselves to Nigerian songs, and this is why you see most of the songs sounding alike. What works for A may not work for B. Artistes need to explore and research every time; and thank God for the internet. There’s nothing you want to know about the music artistry or business that you can dig up online. Information is key in this business. Most artistes don’t even understand why they are doing music or what they want but they only just want their faces on TV and “blow” which is rather unfortunate. Some people will say if you talk about more serious issues and put a focus on the quality of your lyrics in Nigeria, you won’t be commercial enough and your music won’t sell, it’s a blatant lie”

On a lighter note, Jesse Jagz, the talented producer, singer and MI’s kid brother, claims he is Nigerian music’s “Jesus Christ” and the only musician who can rescue Nigeria music from the rot it is currently going through.

“I am the Jesus of Nigerian music. My top 3 artistes in Nigeria are me, me, me. No one works harder than me. I would love to see a lot of my colleagues step up their game….This is not a Kendrick thing. You don’t need Jesus to tell you that Nigerian music is unintelligent. Even Goats can dance to our music. Can Jesse Jagz make Nigeria a better place for Wizkid? Can Wizkid do same too? Let adults do better and let kids party. We need to leave something better for the coming generation”