Afro-Hiphop: Nigeria's Most Popular Music Genre

The Concept of Afro-Hiphop: Nigeria's Most Popular Music Genre
Urban Dictionary online defines Afro-Hiphop as "A term coined by African hiphop artists especially rappers in the 21st century which signifies the mixture of conventional rap with high live beat, Fuji, pidgin English and in some cases native languages"

Afro-Hiphop is simply 'African Hiphop'; Hiphop done in the African way. Or Hiphop spiked with the African flavour. So if Hiphop is a music genre consisting of rhythmic music accompanied with rap, DJ’ing, breakdancing, and graffiti writing, then Afro-Hiphop is all those, spiced up with the African tradition, or done in the African way.

Historically, Hiphop, which dates back to the 1970s, originally has its roots in Africa. Hiphop, like all African-American music styles, borrows from African traditions. This is clearly evident of Hiphop, particularly in its lyrics, beats and delivery.

An in-depth tracing of the genre inevitably lands one in West Africa.
Afro-Hiphop can therefore be safely tagged an irony of civilization. A western musical genre influenced largely by African culture, which with time, further influences its African version. Prefacing 'Hiphop' with 'Afro' would then have been a subject of linguistic redundancy or tautology if not for its significance in distinguishing geographical location.

“The Nigerian Hip Hop Music is majorly influenced by its American counterpart. This is mainly because the nation can be said to be the highest American-hip-hop consuming nation after the Americans themselves” - Wikipedia.

Nigeria is arguably the revolution of Afro-Hiphop. Apart from the popularity this genre enjoys in the country, and also apart from how much Nigerian Afro-Hiphop has sold the country to the world, this fact is further evidenced in the World's perception of 'Afro-Hiphop' as a musical genre. Nigeria readily comes to mind when one thinks about this genre.

Proof of this assertion can be seen in the Urban Dictionary definition given earlier. ‘Highlife beat’ and ‘Fuj’i are the indigenous - and local - musical genres of Nigeria, and Pidgin English is a distinctive feature of Nigerian Hiphop. The Wikipedia quote serves as further proof.

"The first hip-hop record to achieve widespread popularity in Nigeria was “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang, in 1979. Thirty years later, hip-hop is the premier pop music of Nigeria, dominating radio play as well as the sales charts, feted in megabudget videos, glossy magazines and glitzy award shows. When the average Nigerian kid decides to get into the music biz, the first impulse is not to grab a guitar or a talking drum, but to pick up a microphone" - africanhiphop.com

The earliest attempts at home-grown Hip hop didn't enjoy much mainstream success and could have been called ridiculous, however, they laid the foundation for the 2Faces, D'banjs, Modenines, Don Jazzys, P-Squares and Olamides, of today.

"The Way I Feel Rap" (1981) by Ronnie, Ron Ekundayo, a highly popular Lagos nightclub DJ, television presenter and on-air personality on the very hip 97.6 Radio Nigeria 2, secures Ronnie's place in history as the man who made the first rap record in Nigeria (and, very possibly, in Africa) even though he never recorded a follow-up to The Way I Feel.

“Which One You Dey?” (1991) by Emphasis—a trio composed of rappers Terry and Mouth MC and singer Junior—represented home-grown Nigerian hip-hop finally finding its own voice. Unlike most of their predecessors, Emphasis didn’t rely on barely-rhymed doggerel aping the rhythms and cadences of American old-school rap records, but instead presented a lucid narrative complete with plot, characterization and humour, delivered with a relaxed flow in pidgin English—the true language of Nigeria’s streets.

Afro-Hiphop reflects the major characteristics of its American or Western counterpart. It's being used to tell tales of poverty, crime, political corruption, revolution, violence, and other matters incidental to these.

A subtle diversion in the messages being preached by Afro-Hiphop embraces stories of love, hatred, motivation, gospel, culture, affluence or wealth, and almost anything. In fact, the most popular Afro-Hiphop tunes in Nigeria recently preach no message at all. They are now being made just for the listener to enjoy, and dance to the beats.

And just like Hiphop in the Western world, Afro-Hiphop is more than just music to Nigeria. It is a way of life. It's a connection and a bond. It is our way of reacting to life; a way of interaction with one another and a way to give our opinions or pass comments on issues bothering us as a Nation.

Afro-hiphop, also called Afro-beats or Naija Music, makes it easy for the more recent collaborations between Hiphop artists and traditional/indigenous artists in genres like Fuji, Juju, Highlife, Apala, etc. A lot of young Nigerian artists have incorporated indigenous beats and style, like that of the legendary Fela Kuti, in making Hiphop.

Afro-Hiphop has overtaken its Western counterpart in this part of the world, and has taken over the Nigerian music industry, just like Nollywood in the movie industry. Many Africans now prefer the indigenous musical genre to the foreign genres.

Source Entertainment.ng.msn