Category: Campus Life

I literally grew up ‘inside music.’ My late father was a strong music lover with thousands of vinyl records – both ‘small plate,’ LPs, cartridges, cassette and Compact Discs – to his enviable credit. I watched, lived and witnessed all the revolutions – technology and artistes – that have taken place in the music industry. From the gramophone technology through the radiogram, stereo, home theater down to the present mobile and digital download technology.

Beyond living and monitoring these trends and developments, music holds a special place in my life because it acts like a living history for me. I can listen to a song and relieve exactly what I was doing and how it impacted my life the period the music was released. In all these years, one fact has remained with me: music has enormous power – both emotionally and physically. Some music – like those of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Bob Marley Isaac Hayes etc. – were composed and sang to awaken social consciousness of ‘sleeping’ societies.

Starting this week, I will begin a series on how music impacts social change in several age and dispensations, how these changes can be either positive or negative and how our Nigerian music industry are missing out in the intellectual and spiritual aspect of music acting as a social catalyst toward the development of Nigeria. We shall come to this crucial aspect as the series progresses.

But suffice to say that for every major social movement, social change and social upheaval throughout history, music has been present; sometimes driving change, other times resisting change; other times documenting and commenting on that change. Music has played a key role in bringing about global awareness of major social and political causes or health crises around the world. Mass events such as Live Aid, Human Rights Now, and social media campaigns such as the recent Africa Stop Ebola which involved the recording of song in several languages with highly influential African artists, provide a very effective medium in communicating to young people on what they need to know about health services.

So, how do large groups of people transform their values and adopt new patterns of behaviour, or to put it in different terms, through what forms of social movement do cultures rearrange their traditions and resources? To what extent does music lead large groups of people to transform their values and adopt new patterns of behaviour, and why does music seem to effect this change? Music seems to have more influence over large groups of people than nearly any other cultural product.

The 1960s was arguably one of the United States’ greatest eras of political and cultural upheaval. Protest movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, the New Left, the Anti-war Movement, the Anti-nuclear Movement, Feminism, Environmentalism, and the Gay Liberation Movement emerged in full-force during the decade to cry out against the war in Vietnam, environmental degradation, homophobic violence, sexist oppression, institutionalised racism, and traditional modes of authority.

The rapidity at which these movements incurred change was unprecedented and fueled in large part by music. The emergence of radio, recorded music, and the mixture of acoustic folk, electric rock music, blues, gospel, jazz, and classical music that led to popular music innovation in the 1960s played a huge role in the collective will transformation of this new generation. The politically charged music of the 1960s helped create a new vision for American society that can still be felt in American consciousness today.

Currents of dissent were prevalent in all forms of art and expression throughout the 1960s, but music was at the forefront of protest and change. Songs like “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell, “The Times They Are a-Changin’” by Bob Dylan, “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye (though recorded in 1971, the song reflects the times and sentiments of the 1960s), reflected the general unrest of the era and became anthems of social upheaval. Thus, there is a strong connection between music, history, and social change. Music has long been used by movements seeking social change. This was particularly true, as successful black and white musicians openly addressed the issues of the day.

It was therefore not surprising that popular white singers such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez lent both their names and their musical talents to the American Civil Rights Movement. In fact, music long assisted those working to win civil rights for African Americans. Freedom songs, often adapted from the music of the black church, played an essential role bolstering courage, inspiring participation, and fostering a sense of community.

Andrew Young, former US Ambassador to the UN and former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, remembered how music helped build bridges between civil rights workers and members of the communities they hoped to organise: “They often brought in singing groups to movement friendly churches as a first step in their efforts …They knew how little chance they stood of gaining people’s trust if they presented themselves as straight out organisers: people were too afraid to respond to that approach. So they organised gospel groups and hit the road.”

Though not writing about music, the words of late Emeritus professor of history, JF Ade Ajayi is apt. In his paper ‘Towards a more enduring sense of history’ he wrote: “Perhaps one reason why there is so much violence, aggression and instability in our day to day life is that we have so little consciousness of a time perspective. We act and react as if there is only today, no yesterday, no tomorrow. We seem to care so little about the past; we have no enduring heroes and we respect no precedents. Not surprisingly, we hardly ever consider what kind of future we are building for our children and our children’s children.”

Words on marble regarding our country you will agree. Not done, he continues: “We lack statesmen with any sense of history. Politics of the moment dominates our life, leaving no room for evaluating achievement and appreciating merit. We, therefore, recognize no permanent values or yardstick of achievement to hold up as a model for our youths. The corruption in our society goes beyond those who steal public funds and pervert justice; it includes those who forget, as we say, ‘the horsemen of yesteryears,’ the individuals and values that sustained us in the past, and applaud only those who for the moment and by whatever dubious means have access to power or money to buy attention.”

He added that the nation suffers which has no sense of history because “its values remain superficial and ephemeral unless imbued with a deep sense of continuity and a perception of success that transcends acquisition of temporary power or transient wealth…”

This, in summary, encapsulates what we are passing through as a country. The morass, like a fast spreading cancer, has eaten deep into our society and consciousness. So it is not surprising that some of our musicians see nothing wrong in perpetually singing about the wrong ways of seeing women, acquisition of wealth without work and even acquiring ‘blood money!’ They are simply mirroring our society and exploiting the depth we have sank. Creativity has gone with the wind and anyone can come and sing whatever he wants and get away with it because there is a ‘ready market’ for all manner of junk in Nigeria.

As we continue next week, I’ll like to give readers a simply assignment. Kindly listen again to “War” by the late reggae legend Bob Marley and “Authority Stealing” by the late Afrobeat maestro Fela Anikulapo Kuti. For the benefit of those who may not know, the lyrics for “war” sang by Marley were actually a speech delivered to the UN by the late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. By a dint of creativity, Marley turned a mere speech into an award winning song.

Equally too, when you listen to “authority stealing” by Fela you will know that Nigeria has worn corruption like a garment for a long time. This bogey called corruption has continued to dominate our discourse relegating everything else to the background. Fela did everything within his powers to awaken the consciousness of Nigerians. But unfortunately, majority only danced to the rhythm thereby missing what has now become a prophetic message.

This is wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2019.