Wizkid and Tiwa Savage in Fever video

 

The best way to be sexually aroused nowadays is not really by watching adult films. All you need to do is pay attention to the trending secular songs which are virtually wherever you go.

 

The sounds and visuals are potent enough to resurrect a manhood which has been flaccid from inception. You will see the best quality of high definition videos flashing the well-exposed waists, hips, boobs and bums of young ladies in your face.

 

As we have unsound music videos, so also we have second-rate lyrics which are worse than nursery rhymes designed to enhance the learning ability of kids. The mediocrity of the so-called talented heads is laced with melodious beats and instrumentals to easily penetrate the minds of unsuspecting listeners.

 

It’s like the key to dropping a hit song in Nigeria is by using unmeaning, silly and unintelligible lyrics that portray and glorify s*x, drugs, internet scam, thuggery, promiscuity, alcoholism, civil disobedience and unfounded wealth. These are the common vices the youths easily identify with and it gives the brand of the artistes wide acceptance. The music industry has continued to deteriorate that good profane music is beginning to become extinct except you want to consider the religious songs. 

 

For a male artiste to appeal to the audience, he has to portray himself as a slave master who manipulates the hottest ladies at will and for that female artiste to be given attention, she has to project herself as a sex idol that can win the heart of any man who sights her. Wizkid and Tiwa Savage fit perfectly into this description.

 

Music has continued to adversely shape our perception of life in Nigeria. It has helped in making abnormal things normal and this can be traced to the problem of globalization. Through this, foreign culture, tradition and behaviours have been imbibed to show exposure and class on the path of the performers. When I was growing up, it was a big shame to pay for sex. Men who patronize prostitutes did it with utmost secrecy to save their reputation. Today, sleeping with a prostitute has become a competitive sport which could attract a gold medal. This might not be far from the way some vulgar celebrities like Olamide, the late Da Grin, Reminisce, Lil Kesh and others have admitted to sleeping with hookers popularly regarded as "Oloshos". 

 

I remember the popular song which says " Bata re adun koko ka, ti o ba kawe re, bata re a dun koko ka" meaning that "You will excel in life if you are educated". This song added real value to our lives and helped improve our mentality towards personal development. Today, good and inspirational lyrics have been replaced with songs that celebrate internet fraud and inexplicable wealth. Songs that demean women and reduce them to mere commodities which could be acquired in the market places if their prices are triggered dominate the airwaves. 

 

Music video directors now hire video vixens that perform sexual acts painstakingly to impress their paymasters while the horny audience feed their lust. They now pay millions of naira to enhance their bodies through cosmetic surgeries to make their body parts more attractive and intoxicating. 

The leadership of the Nigerian Customs Service has been constantly intercepting container loads of Tramadol worth billions of naira. A society which tolerates and applauds songs like ‘Codeine Diet’ and ‘Science Student’ by Olamide shouldn't be shocked about the crisis of hard drugs as vulnerable people might think getting high is the only way to experience Utopia.

 

I remember how the Ibale tradition in Yorubaland which encouraged women to remain virgins till they get married instilled discipline and decency among female folks. I also remember how single mothers were called 'Adelebo'. The latter sounded like the stigmatization of women involved in failed relationships or broken marriages but it helped us in maintaining sanity in the marital institution. Today, being a 'baby mama' to a wealthy person is bigger and more enviable than working at Shell or Chevron. Musicians now indiscriminately sleep with young ladies unprotected and consequently impregnate them. 

 

Legendary musician, Innocent ‘2Baba’ Idibia once boasted in his song, ‘Enter The Place’ about his virility although he later regretted his actions after having 7 kids from three different women at a young age. Davido even went as far as featuring his two baby mamas, their children and also his reigning girlfriend, Chioma in his ‘Wonder Woman’ music video. The 26-year old is also under pressure to accept another child from an Ibadan-based lady he reportedly had a one-night stand with.

 

With the advent of social media today and the desperate quest of multinational companies to make money at all costs, some of these celebrities who are outright bad examples in the society are now paraded as mentors under the banner of ambassadorial roles with cooked up successes stories that mislead the younger generation.

 

In all sincerity, these songs which are produced with hot beats and attractive choruses easily captivate the minds of the younger generation; mostly taking them unaware. These poisonous contents unconsciously pollute their minds and they later see life from the corrupted lenses of these celebrities. Music is powerful and often times underrated. One of the purposes of music is to express and modulate emotions. We use it to soothe, psych up, woo, enrage, sadden and cheer each other, or ourselves.

 

The societal decay is so prevalent that it appears any artiste making good songs with meaningful lyrics is unserious about his musical career.

 

One wonders how the promising and intelligent rapper, Skales of the defunct music record label, Empire Mates Entertainment retrogressed from the crooner of the inspirational song "Heading For A Grammy" to a questionable song like "Booty Language". The popular excuse is that he is only producing what the society wants to consume as that is the only way to make good and quick money.

 

Most youths now want to get rich quick and acquire belongings that will attract numerous girls to warm their beds with ease. Women have been reduced to fortune-hunting elements that  generously spread their legs at the sight or smell of Naira notes.

 

Watching Nigerian music videos have boosted the sexual fantasies of men who wish they could have replicas of the video vixens to sleep with them. It’s even worse for married men who are given clues of what their aging wives aren’t giving them. Morality and shame have been thrown into the dustbins with ladies now advocating on social media for long sexual sessions. They have even tagged some men "one minute or Indomie men". Who else has noticed sex drugs advertorials have taken over Instagram with popular pages showcasing nothing less than three brands of sex enhancers per day? The companies producing and marketing these drugs have become so bold that they hire young ladies who make sultry appearances in short videos to talk raw in attestation to the efficacy of the drugs. Reports have it that men are patronizing these start-ups massively in the bid to satisfy the women in their lives in the ‘other room’.

 

These are signs of insanity and absurdity being normalized by the young folks who are supposed to be the future of the country. The destiny of 67 million youths appears to be at stake with the ailment of cancerous music eating up the audience towards the destruction of their psyche. 

 

Music is deeper than how it sounds and its clandestine effects on the lives of human beings can’t be overemphasized. 

 

Scientists have proved that sound affects our bodies; sound affects us physiologically in very powerful ways. This is because hearing is our primary warning sense. A sudden sound will start a process. It releases cortisol (steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex), it increases your heart rate, and it changes your breathing.

 

Music can improve mood, increase intelligence, enhance learning and concentration, and ward off the effects of brain aging. This is why one needs to be careful about the musical contents he/she consumes consciously and unconsciously.

 

Also, according to an entertainment writer, Ronald Urbina - music is the reflection of the society. The fact that music reflects the community is well-known for more than a century. This is why the investigation of tribes that lived in the past is conducted through exploration of their way of life, which includes music. People like to express their state of being through songs.

 

The way a Nigerian will dance to bad music in the heat of the moment is the same way he will show indifference about poor infrastructural facilities, bad government policies, corruption, moral decadence and other forms of societal challenges.

 

This is who we are in Nigeria, we just don’t care. We suffer and smile. We easily overlook budding challenges until they become insurmountable. Those bad musical contents are reflections of us no matter how much we deny it.

 

 

Written by Osayimwen Osahon George, a journalist and PhD student based in Lagos State