Are We Still Entertained?

MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA

This may sound stale and convey the opiner as been less woke. This may be the fallout of generational disparity for some persons or moral sense of entitlement to some others. I will attempt to stroke this from the less subjective eyes of an uninterested observer.

Nigerian Music in the past was a mixed bag of entertainment, didacticism, and hype. Persons like Fela were great entertainers with message laden songs delivered in canal and obscene nuances on stage. From open puffing of Marijuana to disgusting display of erotic dance moves.

As good as our musical icons were, many still considered a host of them that raved in the 70s, 80s and 90s as strong levers of the social ills that ravaged that era. Known fraudsters, ritual killers and bad leaders were hyped and sang into relevance; sadly so that most of them became sentinel indicators of our standard norms.

Today, our secular music has evolved. We have a globally competitive industry, heavy on cash with an ever increasing demand of willing patronizers. Yet, it has remained an ignoble representation of dwindling values.

I find it hard to establish the order of influencing. Is music a reflection of our Society or is it the brush with which Society is painted? We have a music industry that thrives on laundering social misfits rather than shaming them; An industry that accentuates a social vice rather than correct it.