Reuben Abati wrote an article this Sunday in the Guardian Newspapers about the state of the Nigerian music industry which has stirred up a lot of controversy on the internet over the past few days. A few artists and other notable people in the industry have written responses.
The most popular response seems to be from Banky W and here is an excerpt:
You speak of meaninglessness and prurience, identity crisis and moral turpitude. You praise Legends like Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti and you ridicule us. 9ice does not drink or smoke. eLDee is married to one wife. Olu Maintain does not drink. Naeto C is currently obtaining his Masters’ degree in England. The ironic thing is, we look up to and praise your generation too. You seem to forget that Baba Fela had 27 wives, smoked marijuana in public, was himself half naked at shows (as well as the women around him) and allegedly died of HIV. However we look past what some may consider shortcomings and respect and emulate the immense contributions he made to our history. We are in awe of him despite personal choices that some may or may not agree with. All we are asking for is to be appreciated and afforded similar tolerances.
And another response by Eldee, with an excerpt here:
There has never been a time in Nigeria’s history when Nigerians have been more patriotic. A time when it has become cool to be Naija! A time when we wear ankara with pride, listen religiously to Nigerian music, watch Nigerian movies and look forward to a more progressive Nigeria. Mr Abati, your generation failed us and we have learned from you guys how not to fail the next generation. Thank God the whole of Nigeria is not as backward thinking as you have displayed……Sir.
There are quite a few other other responses and comments at the lnks below:
http://lindaikeji.blogspot.com/2009/06/reuben-abati-vs-banky-w.html
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/reuben-abati/a-nations-identity-crisis.html
http://speechgirlbucknor.blogspot.com/2009/06/much-ado-about-article.html
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=112015746762&id=595596049&ref=mf
http://www.bellanaija.com/2009/06/24/a-nations-identity-crisis-by-reuben-abati-response-by-banky-w/
Drop a comment with your own opinion.
5 Comments
Reuben’s piece is very Myopic, subjacent and a destructive construct. It is very very disappointing, coming from a man who should shape public opinion. It is with this same Narcissistic approach he writes about other issues of Nigeria….please someone should tell him that music is a global brand and the name of the age is globalization 3.0; where individuals are gona take the lead, not companies or nations as it was in their time…That’s why we need names that sell, that’s why our artiste must do the business of their art. Someone also tell him that hip-hop is a culture and any art born out of a culture gets a name related to it hence the sexy names…Banky W,Dbanj rather that oluwabanko….kai just imagine that name on his CD, it wont even sell the art in lagos not to say japan or london. That article was dead on arrival, has no single lesson but rather filled with opinionated self-service and a de-service to our music industry- loss of sales in the global market, loss of revenue to Nigerian economy, loss of respect for our art. Shame on the old man.
With all due respect SIR,its a shame that such generated from your ancient brain but am not really surprised cos you are one of the very few living in the past.If you are thirsty of posting articles,you should write on the excesses of the government who has subjected its own citizen to hardship and darkness.Trully,we are copying the european culture but if we trully are,today in Nigeria,we should have stopped moving around with cash and start using our so called “ATM cards” everywhere we go,buying cars and even biscuits like it being done in europe and other countries and the menace of arm robbery would have been a thing of the past and am sure if truly we are copying the europeans,why are we still suffering from POWER FAILURE. If you have nothing to say,i think you should just shut up and let the new generation keep putting a smile on the faces of the citizens of this country through their music,the smile which the government has taken away. As rubbish as it sound to you,am happy you are not blind to the fact that,they have been recognised worldwide,not only in Africa but the world at large,they have made records that has never been made in the history of music in Nigeria.Instead of been a critic to their success and personal life,do so on your generation who i cant really placed what they achieved during their time than to enjoy what we achieve.All those in power today,where were they during the MILITARY REGIME,bloody cowards.If the name has really been changed like u claim to “NAIJA”,”9JA”,”NIJA”,”NIGEZIE” or whatever…Maybe on your documents sir, cos have not seen a written document with such changes..On my passport and other world documents,my NIGERIA remains,its a free country,we can say whatever we like.Give me a breathing space and die if u are so tired of the Nigeria.
this man is mental.
silly man!
REUBEN!
Someone like you should know by now that generational change is inevitable. You are living in the past and you’ve done yourself a grave dis-service by putting on full display your deeply entranched colonial mentality.
By romanticising the naming of the most populous African country by a foreign imperialist and his “consort” you are in effect endorsing the evil of colonialism perpetrated on Africans. It is because of the prevalence of the mind set you are displaying that we have kept ourselves back for so long. Perhaps you wish Queen Elizabeth II would send Andrew Lloydd Webber come and to show us ignorant Africans how to make real music.
The youth are now taking it upon themselves to re-create their own new world to re-define our country in terms of who we really are today. You mention artists like Fela, Onyeka, Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek and many others - yet they were all influenced by foreign music styles (soul, funk, pop and reggae).
The lyrical content of SOME of the new Naija music maybe lacking in depth but the depth of an artist’s music is only a reflection of the depth of their lives. And their are many new artists in the country whose music reflects a serious depth of outlook and character. But the key thing here is this: we are creating an industry that is successful and is uniquely ours. We are showcasing our creativity in abundance to the world, influencing the way the world sees us, putting the souls of our youth on the world stage and inspiring the lives of countless other Africans worldwide. The depth of content will come later. Look at the big picture Reuben.
If Fela was alive today he would understand this embrace this new wave of unapologetic music BY Africans FOR Africans.
If Okonkwo wasn’t a fictional character in Things Fall Apart he would probably be after your head by now.
Reuben, change is here! For Naija, By Naija.
Get on the bandwagon!!
DE RHYMERS COMMENT:FIRST AND FOR MOST ONE MUST HAVE THE FEAR OF GOD,BE COS IT IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM.THE NIGERIA MUSICAL INDUSTRY HAS ATTENDED A GREAT HEIGHT IN THE WORLD MUSICAL INDUSTRY THEREFORE NO TIME 2 CHECK TIME,TUTU MPON WE STILL DEY QUO IQUO”DE RHYMERS YOUR NO: 1st CHOICE.GOD BLESS YOU FOR READING.
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