Vibrant and energetic, Nigerian music includes genres such as Afrobeat, highlife and Jùjú. But what is its history, who have been its most successful and influential musicians, and who are the best Nigerian artists to listen to?
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Traditional Nigerian music
When it comes to the history of Nigerian music, little is known about it prior to European contact – though bronze carvings dating back to the 16th century have been found, depicting musicians with their instruments.
Traditional music from Nigeria is almost always functional, to mark rituals such as weddings or funerals, together with work songs, sung in the fields, and by women, who use complex rhythms in tasks such as pounding yams.
Highlife
Highlife music originated in Ghana in the late 19th century, then spread to western Nigeria, where it flourished in the 1950s among the Igbo people. Originally primarily performed by brass bands along the Ghanaian coast, by the early 20th century, the bands had brought in a vocal component and stylistic elements of local music traditions and jazz.
In Nigeria, highlife was transformed with asymmetrical drum rhythms derived from the Yoruba people’s drumming, and combined with syncopated guitar melodies. The songs were sung in either Yoruba or English. After the civil war in the 1960s, Igbo musicians were forced out of Lagos and returned to their homeland, with the result that highlife ceased to be a major part of mainstream Nigerian music.
Jùjú music emerged from highlife to take over as the most popular style. However, Umu Obiligbo – Igbo highlife musicians and brothers Chukwuebuka Akunwafor and Ifeanyichukwu Okpuozor – are still singing highlife in its original Igbo style, whilst also featuring Afropop musicians on some of their tracks.
Jùjú Music
Jùjú is another style of Yoruba music – the name comes from the Yoruba word ‘juju’ or ‘jiju’, meaning ‘throwing’ or ‘something being thrown’ and the lead instrument is the lya Ilu, or talking drum.
In the 1930s, early Nigerian fusion Jùjú music originated in Lagos. Jùjú has similarities with rap, as it mainly focuses on talking about people and things – the first recordings were made by Yoruba musician Tunde King in 1929. It was informal music played at parties or for friends; artists such as Irewole Denge, Ojoge Daniel and Ebenezer Obey popularized it in the 1930s, playing at concerts.
A Pioneer of Modern World Music
King Sunny Adé, born in 1946, is one of the most popular Nigerian Jùjú music artists and has been hailed as a pioneer of modern world music and is highly influential – he was the first to introduce the pedal steel guitar to Nigerian pop, and pioneered the use of synths, vibraphone and tenor guitar in the Jùjú repertoire.
In the 70s and 80s, Sunny Adé toured America and Europe, where he played to mixed audiences. Trey Anastasio, an American guitarist, explained Adé’s musical approach, and why he admired his music so much:
‘Sunny Adé’s music is characterised by, among other instruments, the Talking drum – an instrument indigenous to his Yoruba roots, the guitar and his peculiar application to Jùjú music that would easily put him in the same class as guitar musicians like Santana. His music is in the age-old tradition of singing poetic lyrics, (“Ewi” in Yoruba) and praise of dignitaries as well components of “Jùjú” (traditional African belief) called the “Ogede”- “casting a spell”. Hence, Adé’s music constitutes a record of the oral tradition of his people for posterity.’
The release of Odu, a collection of traditional Yoruba songs, in 1998 saw Adé become the first African to be nominated twice for a Grammy, and in the 1980s, his music was featured in the Richard Gere film Breathless.
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a fusion of jazz, funk, highlife, salsa, calypso, and traditional Nigerian Yoruba music, pioneered by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and activist Fela Kuti (1938-1997).
Kuti was the son of Nigerian women’s rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and shot to stardom in Nigeria during the 1970s. He was known for his showmanship, but political meaning was always threaded through his music. In an interview in Hank Bordowitz’s Noise of the World, he stated, ‘Music is supposed to have an effect. If you’re playing music and people don’t feel something, you’re not doing shit. That’s what African music is about. When you hear something, you must move. I want to move people to dance, but also to think. Music wants to dictate a better life, against a bad life. When you’re listening to something that depicts having a better life, and you’re not having a better life, it must have an effect on you.’
‘Kannywood’
In the 1980s, Bollywood films began to be introduced to Nigeria, which were then translated and remade in the Hausa language, leading to a new music genre, wakokin fina-fina.
In the late 1990s, the Northern Nigerian film industry, known as Kannywood, developed and this style of music, also called Nanaye, became widespread. It involves a call-and-response structure, and features both male and female vocalists.
One of the most prolific female composers, Maryam A Baba, has written more than 5,000 songs, including tracks for the film industry.
The Nigerian Music Industry
The Nigerian music industry is going from strength to strength, with artists such as Burna Boy winning the Best World Music Album with Twice as Tall at the Grammys, and Wizkid hitting the Billboard Hot 100 four times to date – the most for an African artist.
Top 5 Nigerian Artists
- Burna Boy
- Wizkid
- Davido
- Tiwa Savage
- Olamide
Burna Boy
Damini Ogulu – aka Burna Boy – is a singer, songwriter and record producer, who rose to fame in 2012 after releasing ‘Like to Party’ from his debut studio album L.I.F.E. He describes his music as Afro-fusion – a blend of Afrobeats, R&B, hip hop, dancehall and reggae.
Burna Boy won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards – he’s since become the first African artist to bag three nominations and win consecutively (in 2019, 2020 and 2021). His fourth studio album, African Giant, won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards.
Fifth studio album Twice as Tall debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums chart and won Best World Music Album at the Grammy Awards, making him the first Nigerian artist with back-to-back nominations at the awards. He also won Best International Act at the MOBO Awards, where he was up against industry heavyweights including Drake, Megan Thee Stallion and Lil Baby.
Burna Boy is also known for his collabs – he’s featured on Justin Bieber’s ‘Loved by You’ and Sam Smith’s ‘My Oasis’ and appeared alongside Ed Sheeran on Stormzy’s single ‘Own It’ from his Heavy is the Head album.
WizKid
2022 was the first year that the Headies Awards are coming to America from Nigeria, marking the fact that Afrobeats is now truly global, and Wizkid is leading the charge, with ten nominations.
The Nigerian singer/songwriter became the first Afrobeats artist to feature in the Guinness World Records under ‘Most streamed song on Spotify’ for his contribution to the hit song ‘One Dance’ in the 2018 edition (as well as appearing on the track, he also co-wrote and co-produced it.) The track also set a record for being the first to reach a billion streams on Spotify.
In February 2021, Wizkid was the most-streamed artist of all time on Spotify, with over 3.4 billions streams across all credits. He also became the first Nigerian musician to have over a million followers on Twitter.
Davido
Davido broke through in Africa in 2011, with hit single ‘Dami Duro’ from his debut album Omo Baba Olowo. His 2019 album, A Good Time, has earned over a billion streams and his 2020 follow-up, A Better Time, featured everyone from Nicki Minaj to Nas, Lil Baby and Young Thug.
Davido has always made a point of collaborating with up-and-coming African acts. His video for ‘La La’ features CKay and newer Nigerian musicians, such as Joeboy, Oxlade, and Blaqbonez.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, he explained his take on collaborations is that, ‘You can’t just come and say, “Oh, I want to make a song with this guy because he’s going to get a million views in one day.” I don’t work like that. I work based on vibes. If I like the record, I’m probably going to do it. And that’s how me and CKay linked up, because I love his sound, and then he ended up having the biggest Afrobeats record ever.’
Tiwa Savage, aka The Queen of Afrobeats
The ‘Somebody’s Son’ singer recently received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Kent in Canterbury. ‘Some call me queen, but it’s Dr. Savage from now on,’ she joked in her acceptance speech.
Savage started her music career at just sixteen and became the first African woman to win an MTV Europe Music Award. Over the course of her career, Tiwa has released four albums, 23 singles and was the first African woman to sell out the Indigo O2. She was also the first African woman to be a Pepsi brand ambassador, and appeared on the front cover of Billboard’s first issue devoted entirely to Africa.
The songwriter’s collaborations have received significant acclaim, and in 2010, her collaboration with Fantasia led to the artists receiving a Grammy nomination. As a solo artist, Tiwa has forged a path that draws from her musical beginnings of mainstream pop and R&B to develop a fusion heavily based on Afrobeats, typically switching between English and Yoruba in her lyrics. She’s said that, ‘There’s beauty in bringing both markets together and I had the ability to do it.’
Her 2020 album, Celia, features guest appearances from Davido, Sam Smith, Naira Marley and Stefflon Don.
Olamide
Nigerian rapper Olamide is one of Africa’s most influential artists, recording in both Yoruba and English, and with his own record label, YBNL Nation. He released debut studio album Rapsodi in 2011, with his twelfth album, UY Scuti, released in 2021.
He told Notion that, ‘the kind of music I make is really about moving ahead. Getting the people in a great mood, no matter what they’re going through. A lot of my albums from way back are centered around motivation, liberation and good music for people to vibe with. People are going through a lot, but they just want to be happy. For so long now, I’ve been giving people feel-good music that they can vibe with and just forget their sorrow.’
Read More
We have an array of great articles on Black music – from jazz to hip hop, country to R&B, read about Black music history, or explore the best hip hop movie soundtracks and iconic hip hop movies.
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