I am not even in doubt; we are musically
under heavy attack from Nigerians. All, if not most, vehicles in public
transport system have the dominance of Nigerian music.
There have been funny names and titles from
this West African country where musical artists have come on the scene and left
the local music lovers none-the-wiser.
It all started with artists like D'banj real
name ‘Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo’ Nigeria’s pop duo, P-Square of Peter and Paul Okoye
as well as Flavour (Chinedu Okoli) it was more like one on those once off thing.
But lately with the mergence on the scene of
more Naija artists, as they call it there, like Mcgalaxy with tracks like
'Skeme', Udoka Chigozie Oku a.k.a Selebobo who has featured J. Matin in a remix
track called ‘Yoyo’.
There is also Enetimi Alfred Odom better
known by his stage name Timaya who has done a track famously known as ‘Shake
your Bum Bum’, Nwanchukwu Ozioko, (a.k.a Vast) is one half of the popular
singing duo, Bracket whose other member is Obumneme Ali a.k.a. Smash. Ayodeji Ibrahim
Balogun known by his stage name Wizkid
Of all the names above one that seem to have
taken control is the son of a Billionaire business magnet David Adedeji Adeleke
popularly called Davido with tracks like Skelewu, Aye, and Gobe which are all over
places that use music in Malawi, of course except Churches but not Christian
weddings.
The Nigerian beat has become the heart beat
of most entertainment activities in Malawi and their music were popularised by
sound tracks in the films.
Of course Shemu Joya has tried to use local
music by Agorroso in his films Seasons of Life and The Last Fishing Boat but
what I am talking about is having a group of musical compatriots who would do
music that will have a recognisable element to be referred to as Nigerian genre
for example.
In a country like Malawi, you will have San
B coming up with his own thing and calls it ‘Honjo’ and Atumwi will call theirs
‘Sendeza’. The African Representatives to the 2008 World Music Crossroads
festival, the Boys from Mzuzu ‘The Body, Mind and Soul’ will call theirs
‘Voodoojazz’. Tay Grin, Nyau Music.
When Malawians musicians claim that they
have come up with their own genre, are they fair to themselves?
Ben Mankhamba has tried to do a fusion of
traditional dances with western instruments and called it Beni, Mwinoghe,
Vimbudza. You see, our quest for a fixed and well established Malawian genre,
has been tedious at times; the other day Lucius Banda told us that we were
there with his ‘Zulu Woman’ beat.
Edgar and Davis thought a beat like
‘Kale-Kale’ was it; so were the sounds that emerged from the Lhomwe belt of the
likes of Alan Namoko and Chimvu River Jazz Band and Michael Mukhito Phiri. Wambali
Mkandawire has never called what he plays anything else other than African Jazz
whatever this means.
Peter Mawanga and a certain sector of the
industry believe he has cracked the elusive code to establish the much sort
after Malawian genre with his type of music; but the response has only
fascinated the ear of those that can read music.
Daniel Kachamba and his brother Macdonald
are said to have been playing ‘Kwera’ music which musical historians claim was
born right here in Malawi during the Ndiche Mwalare/Alick Nkhata days.
They claim when Malawians were descending
down South Africa in the 1940/50s they took with them the ‘Kwera’ music which
the South Africans took as their own and perfected it and became a springboard
that has helped them established different genres that are still recognizable
as South African.
Now when you hear Ademwiche by Fikisa you do
not even want to be told that what you are listening to is a Malawian beat even
with the presence of modern instrumentation.
This is clear that this is a traditional
beat. But like a chewed bubblegum, where is it?
This is an argument I have ever made in the
past, but point here today is why Nigerian music has taken control of all our
entertainment joints.
Why is it that when it ripples within your
earshot it is easily recognisable as Nigerian music?
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