State power, postmodernist identities and conflict in contemporary Nigerian popular music

Abstract

Over the past decades, conversation has continually revolved around the different functions—social, cultural, economic and political—of the burgeoning scene of Nigerian popular music. While some scholars have argued that the music scene has seen depreciation in terms of “meaning” and social relevance, others have argued that this scene manifests the complex frames of contemporary postmodern identities. Regardless of what the arguments are about its specific functions, it is evident that music has played a significant role in helping to understand the complex intersections between culture and the Nigerian postcolonial state. This article examines the relationship between Nigerian popular music and the Nigerian state. Specifically, it looks at how popular music engages with the politics of resistance and compliance. It examines how, on the one hand, the music attempts to transcend state-determined social barriers, but, on the other hand, in seeking financial legitimacy, paradoxically functions as a conveyor belt for State determined consciousness. In examining these contradictory paradigms, the article attempts to map the complex meanings and significances of popular music within the matrix of contemporary state power in an African postcolonial setting.

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