Music is a food for the soul. And, it is a universal language. Irrespective of the language in which a song is rendered, it can be enjoyed by people from different races across the world. Millions of music lovers living in different countries would nod their heads and tap their feet on the floor in time while listening to songs that are sung in languages that are unintelligible to them. Listening to a piece of music is a form of relaxation for us. The fact is this, we are entertained by listening to music. A great piece of music can transport us to the summit of ecstasy.
In addition to entertaining us, music is a tool for social engineering. It is used to fight for the enthronement of social justice in a country. During the apartheid era in the racist South Africa, Lucky Dube deployed his musical ingenuity to produce songs that called global attention to the apartheid regime in South Africa. His songs rattled the racist leaders in South Africa, then. There were others, who were of the same ilk as he, such as Miriam Makeba, Brenda Fassie, and others.
Back home in Nigeria, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti produced musical masterpieces that belong to the sub-genre of music called protest music. A music legend, Fela Kuti, an iconoclast, was a thorn in the flesh of successive Nigerian leaders whose leaderships of Nigeria were corrupt, oppressive, and high-handed.
And there was Sonny Okosuns, “the Ozidi King”. He was an exponent of protest music, too. Not only are his songs with lyrical cadence and rhythm, but also they convey his angst about Nigeria’s parlous economic condition and technological backwardness occasioned by profligate, irresponsible , and oppressive military and political leaderships. “Many years of our independence, we still find it hard to start, how long we shall be patient till we reach the promise land.” Those haunting lines from Okosuns’ song depict vividly Nigeria’s arrested national development.
Another protest musician from Nigeria is Eedris Abdulkareem. It’s he who sang “Nigeria jaga jaga, everything scatter scatter”. He produced another song he titled ‘Mr. Lecturer’, which is a snapshot of university lecturers’ reprehensible sexual dalliance with female students. There are other Nigerian musicians that produced songs that are great musical pieces and scathing protest songs.
As well as being a tool for effecting positive change in a country, music or great songs can serve as our philosophical lodestone in our love affairs and daily existence. Bongos Ikwe told us in one of his songs that nothing good comes easy. A rocky relationship may have inspired him to write that song. These lines are excerpted from his song: “I have been searching for, for true love, I’ll keep on searching till I find, nothing good comes easy, that I know, I’ll keep on searching till I find”. Odenigbo Ogidi, who hails from Anambra State, philosophises on existential issues in his song. In his blockbuster album, he urges us to desist from perpetrating crimes in our quest for money and material possessions. “Achuna uwa n’ ike” is the title of the song.
Today, pop music is the in-thing among young Nigerians. That genre of music drives the youths crazy and into frenzy. Nigerian pop stars render their songs in lingo or jargon that contains bawdy expressions. 2face Idibia, P-Square, Banky W, Naeto C, and others are Nigeria’s leading pop stars and cultural ambassadors. P-Square and 2face Idibia have won musical awards organised on the African continent in the past.
But, the story of Nigeria’s musical evolution and growth will be incomplete without the mention of Nigga Raw. Nigga Raw started out his musical career by doing rap in Igbo language, which hitherto was thought impossible by many people. While Nigga Raw pioneered rapping in Igbo language, Phyno popularised it.
Phyno was born Azubuike Nelson Chibuzor in 1986. Bred in Enugu, Phyno has successfully etched his name on our minds with his delectable songs. The gangly and effervescent young man has produced songs that are qualified to be called musical masterpieces. And, the fetching Phyno has a sonorous timber to his voice. His songs, which thrill and fascinate us, reveal that he is a sophisticate, who is worldly-wise. His songs appeal to the youth.
Before now, not a few people dismissed his songs as jumble of sounds that are danceable. With the release of his album that contains the song titled ‘Fada Fada’, Phyno has successfully launched himself into stardom. He is hugging the limelight now. The melodious flow as well as the musical cadence of ‘Fada Fada’ is great and splendid. Its rendition by Phyno is flawless and excellent.
‘Fada Fada’ speaks eloquently to us about human affairs in today’s world. It is a song about his gratitude and thankfulness to God for the material blessings God bestowed on him. And it is a philosophical lodestone and compass for our guidance in our world that is filled with intrigue, evil deeds, and betrayals.
In ‘Fada Fada’, Phyno admonishes us to give our fair-weather friends a wide-berth when we come into wealth. From his song, we have learned that our successes in diverse areas of human endeavours are not a product and function of our industriousness and wisdom. ‘Fada Fada’ as a song is smooth, rhythmic, euphonious, melodious, and deeply philosophical. It is an incantatory praise to God. And, it has now risen to the great height and status of religious incantation.
Before he released the blockbuster album that contains ‘Fada Fada’, he had sung other songs that got rave reviews and commendations in entertainment tabloids and newspapers. Is the sky not the starting point of Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike (Phyno)?
- Okoye, a poet and civil servant, wrote from Uruowulu- Obosi, Anambra State.
