Binary Structure in Selected Songs of Beautiful Nubia

Abstract

Music is a means of communication and a representation of ideas, especially among Africans. The transmission of cultural beliefs from one generation to the next is facilitated by music. Music and poetry in general have been employed in traditional African civilization to unite the people, arouse their consciousness toward a liberalizing of their minds, and occasionally to adopt revolutionary methods against their oppressors. In this sense, music has served as a socialization and liberating instrument in modern society. The social realities of the average person continue to be reflected in the songs of contemporary musicians. Segun Akinlolu, better known by his stage name Beautiful Nubia, is one such musician who has employed his music as a powerful tool for informing and organizing the populace. Nigerian musician Beautiful Nubia is well-known for delving into the Yoruba cultural roots to depict the plight of the average man. As it is typical for some well-known Yoruba popular musicians to sing about “big guys” and “wealthy people”, as far as we are aware, Beautiful Nubia has never praised the powerful in any of his songs. Instead, Beautiful Nubia has persisted in using his songs as a tool to inform the general public about their conditions. To this end, this paper investigates the numerous distinctions among the various social groups as they are depicted in some selected songs from Beautiful Nubia. The Binary structure, a component of struturalist theory that contends that society is organized around oppositional structures such as rich vs poor, haves versus have-nots, etc., serves as the theoretical foundation for this paper. The study comes to the conclusion that music is a powerful tool for enlightening and liberating the masses.

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