Lagos — I read Dr. Reuben Abati's critique of Nigeria's Hip-Hop artistes, which was captioned "A nation's Identity Crisis", in the Guardian newspaper of June 21, 2009. He was to some extent correct. I also read the rejoinders of Eldee and Banky W published in the Guardian a week later. For me, I see Eldee unlike Banky W, who was more constructive, as somebody who gets paranoid over honest criticism. Both camps only scratched the surface of the issues. It appears Dr. Abati and the duo of Eldee and Banky W were defending their own generations of artistes without differentiating the two historical epochs - both were trapped.

Several issues were raised: the quality of music today compared to previous decades, how they dress, imitation of foreign artistes, etc. I don't think stage names adopted by today's artistes in Nigeria is the problem as everyone has a right to change his or her name, whether for entertainment reasons or otherwise.

One cannot appreciate the debate (artiste's dress, the kind of music, etc.) if it's not put within the past and present socio-political milieux. In the 1980s, the Mandators sang 'Rat race', which critiqued the way the country was being run and made it quite clear that it would lead to nowhere. Today, such songs are still very relevant. In the same way, while artistes (Ras Kimono, Sunny Okosu, etc.) in the 1980s sang against the apartheid regime in South-Africa, no musician of today sang about the American invasion of Iraq. In as much as I concede that all songs cannot necessarily take the shape of other forms of art that strive to make sense or convey message(s), the fact is that the current songs also reflect the absence of a working class movement both in Nigeria and internationally. The very vibrant student movement has collapsed with NANS now a shadow of itself; the feminist movement and left-leaning organisations have metamorphosed to mendicant NGOs; the ethnic national movements are confused. There is so much corruption, particularly in high places, that you would think that Nigeria was synonymous with corruption.

I agree with Dr. Abati when he concluded that the songs are "sheer drivel. So much sound, little sense," but songs can't always make sense because a song can pass for a listenable and danceable song for its quality of sounds and lyrics. Most of the songs today are songs for the moment - sheer razzmatazz. If most of our artistes (particularly the hip-hop genre) imitate their foreign counterparts like J-Z, 50 cents, etc, it is because they are their role models. Youths of a particular society that is largely unorganised and lack basic infrastructure would most likely look up to other well-organised societies where things work, for inspiration. The reality is that our crop of leaders in the last two decades do not qualify as role models for Nigerian youths politically. Can an average youth in Nigeria take any of our current political leaders as his/her role model? Your guess is as good as mine. Besides, the generation of Nigerians in 1970s and 1980s had personalities like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Malam Aminu Kano, etc, as role models.

Most of the musicians of 1960s and 1980s could sing in their native languages, but today, our youths do not learn our languages anymore. Our languages have been outlawed in most of our schools and branded 'vernaculars' in many homes, particularly in middle class homes; children dare not speak their native languages other than English. A nation suffers serious identity crisis when its languages are fast disappearing. It was partly because the previous generations learnt local languages alongside English in schools, and also due to more social interaction among different ethnic groupings than what we have now, thanks to more bloody ethnic crises and worsening economic situation.

Another reason our artistes look up to counterparts in the US is because nothing works in Nigeria. When things were working in Nigeria, our artistes were confident to create their own kind of music and identity. Then, we had Apala, Afro-beat, Fuji, Highlife; even Waka, Keneri music, etc. Most of them have vanished following our collapsing economy and traditions, which have affected our social life. Education has collapsed, the hospitals are 'gateways to the mortuary', electricity is now a privilege, except for cheap generators that give you more trouble than benefits, our roads are death traps, our houses are largely inadequate and collapse more often than a 'pack of cards.' The collapsing state of education also worsens the quality of music. Where will the present crop of artistes learn about music?

-To be continued tomorrow

-Chinedu Bosah is the national secretary of Education Rights Campaign (ERC).