EXPANDING THE HORIZON OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN THROUGH THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY

BY

OYO EKPO OYO, Ph.D.CENTRE FOR GENERAL STUDIES

CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYCALABAR - NIGERIA

E-mail: oyoekpooyo@gmail.comPHONE NO: +2348033380451

AND

REV. SIS. M. EUNICE ATSU, Ph.D.CENTRE FOR GENERAL STUDIES

CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYOKUKU CAMPUS - NIGERIA

E-mail: PHONE NO: +2347038809212

ABSTRACTThis work focuses on the wide-scale growth and expanding horizon of the Nigerian music

industry through language use. The Nigerian music industry has developed tremendously in the past two decades and Nigerian Pidgin has contributed immensely to such development. Many Nigerian music genre in recent times have shifted from the use of English language to the use of Nigerian pidgin. The styles of music that use Nigerian Pidgin include, but are not limited to, gospel songs, afro-beats, African jazz, yabis, yab rap, hip-hop, rock, rap, fresh jams, fuji, Naija hits. This work will limit itself to Nigerian music rendered in Nigerian Pidgin and will be purely descriptive in nature. The work relies heavily on the lyrics of contemporary Nigerian music to prove that the music industry has helped in expanding the ever-growing horizon of Nigeria pidgin. Nigerian pidgin through the music industry has helped in social communication in our multilingual and heterogeneous setting. The paper aims at the preservation of some valuable part of Nigerian Pidgin linguistic heritage and to contribute to the body of knowledge and scholarship in this area.

KEYWORDS: Nigerian pidgin, lexical coinages, music industry, songs, communication.

IntroductionThis work will concentrate on the Nigerian music industry from 2000 even though Ugot

(2009) is of the opinion that the industry dates from 1990. The discrepancy in the dates notwithstanding, this research focuses more on the recent Nigerian music making the waves in the country and across the globe.

The contemporary Nigerian music industry has produced musicians like D'Prince, Ice Prince, Davido, Flavour, 2Face, Wizkid, Timaya, Bracket, Olu Maintain, KC Presh, P-Square, Wiz Boy, Reminse, Lil Kesh, Olumide, Tiwa Savage, J-Martins, Korede Bello, Yemi Alade, Buma

meatsu@yahoo.com

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Boy, Patoranking, D'Banj, DJ Caise, Naeto C, Phyno, Praiz, Marvins, Waje, M.I. Abaga, Blackmagic, Maleek Berry, Emy Gee, Monica Ogah, Falz, kiss Daniel, Solidstar, Dr. Sid, Skales, DJ Zeez, Wasiu Alabi, Pasuma, Kcee, Sheyi Shay, Emma Nyra, Iyanya, Don Jazzy, Sean Tizzle, Cynthia Morgan, Chidima among others. It should be noted that the music industry has been gender friendly.

The new generation Nigerian musicians specialize in different genres of music like afro-beat, African jazz, yabbis, gospel songs, yab rap, fuji, hip-hop, rhythm, rock, rap, fresh jams, Niaja hits, blues and others. Most of these genres of music are elegantly rendered by the musicians in Nigerian pidgin.

Even though there is the claim that Nigerian pidgin is characterised by limited vocabulary and simplified grammar with no approved orthography and standard spelling rules, Nigerian musicians have been able to use it judiciously in the coinage of new words, lexical items and slang expressions innovatively to pass on the message to their numerous listeners. The language has indeed, dominated the Nigerian music industry till date.

Nigerian music is indeed popular in the world and is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country that has a lot of patronage and followership. The industry has greatly helped and enhanced the popularity of Nigerian pidgin in communication. The language is creative, innovative, productive, dynamic and capable of yielding varieties. It can adapt easily to new ideas, coinages and borrowings like any other language.

The contemporary Nigerian music industry

Wikipedia (2009) (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/music of Nigeria) states that: the music of Nigeria includes many kind of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitude of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments and songs. Little is known about the country's music

th thhistory prior to European contact although Bronze Carvings dating back to the 16 and 17 centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments.

Wikipedia (2009) further reveals that the Nigerian music industry dates back to the 1940's and it attained great height with the emergence of high-life and juju music in the 1950's and 1960's respectively. Ugot (2009) states that musicians such as I.K. Dairo, Fela Kuti, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade all played a part in popularizing these genres of music. The 1960's 1970's and 1980's saw the advent of fuji music. Yo-pop and Afro juju were introduced in the later part of 1980's with Shina Peters topping the list. This period also saw the popularization of the Afro beat music with Fela Kuti and few others topping the chart. Ugot (2009) also says that 'Waka', a fusion of juju, fuji and traditional Yoruba music reigned in the 1980's and 1990's while the early 1990's saw the emergence and growth of European hip-hop 'disco music. The print and the electronic media help in the growth and sustenance of the contemporary Nigerian music industry.

Nigerian music has shifted tremendously from traditional to “popular music”, a genre of music that targets the younger generation (Ugot 2009). Under it are rhythm and blues, afro-beat, African Jazz, yabbis, yab rap, fresh jams, Niaja hits, afro funk, hip-hop, rock and others. These music are rendered in a mixture of English, the indigenous Nigerian language(s) and the fast growing Nigerian pidgin. Many young Nigerian musicians have 'Nigerianized' their music by adding local flavour to the rendition, rhythm and lyrics with the use of Nigerian pidgin which has in turn been made popular by the different radio and television studios the world

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over and by the patronage and support that musicians get from the government and its agencies and individuals and corporate bodies.

Wikipedia (2009) quoted in Ugot (2009) states that Ronnie Graham, a historian, has attributed the success of the Nigerian music industry to the country's culture as having a “thirst for aesthetic and material successes and a voracious appetite for life, love and music and a huge domestic market big enough to sustain artists (sic) who sing in regional languages and experiment with indigenous styles.”

Nigeria's popular music has been acclaimed as one of the fast-growing in the world. Nigerian music is now heard everywhere and in many night clubs and pubs visited, Nigerian music has been used to sustain the tempo. Nigerian popular music has, indeed, almost nearly overtaken the western music. Nigerian popular musicians have been invited several times to perform in musical shows in the United States, Europe, the Carribeans, Asia and in African countries and many have won awards for themselves and for Nigeria.

Brief profile of Nigerian pidginTodd (1984) defines pidgin as “a marginal language that arises to fulfil certain restricted

communication needs among people who have no common language”(p.30). It further states that “a pidgin is a common language that has no fix word order and is syntactically simpler than any other mother tongue variety of English”(p.30). Pidgin language is native to none of the people using it and is used as a means of communication among people who do not have a common language.

Nigerian pidgin is one of the popular languages spoken in Nigeria. It belongs to no ethnic group in the country and it serves to a greater extent as the 'unity' language of the country. It is a neutral language used by people of all ethnic groups in the country. It is a language of wider communication in a multilingual and heterogeneous Nigeria.

Many scholars have done works on the growth and development of Nigerian pidgin. Mafeni(1971) says that Nigerian pidgin is a product of urbanization as it came as a result of language contact. Emenanjo(1985) recognizes Nigerian pidgin as one of the four commonly spoken indigenous languages in Nigeria. Others are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Elugbe and Omamor(1991) and Elugbe(1995) say that the growth and development of Nigerian pidgin can be traced back to the mouth of the Cross River and the Niger Delta and named pidgin centres that had existed for a long time to include Warri/Sapele, Port Harcourt and Calabar. It is on record that the earliest written record of Nigerian pidgin-like language is Antag Duke's diary

thwhich dates to the 18 century. Okon(1997) asserts that Nigerian pidgin was originally spoken as a trade language throughout what is today the southern states of Nigeria and in the 'sabogari' (new settlements) of the northern states and also spoken as a first language by some people.

Mensah(2011) says that the historical sources of the origin of pidgin and its evolution and spread point towards Calabar (in today's Cross River State, Nigeria) where first contact

thwith Portuguese-based pidgin known as 'Negro Portuguese' in the 18 century. The work further asserts that the arrival of the British traders and later the missionaries and colonial masters further increased the need for communication in pidgin which through history became English-based.

Nigerian pidgin has English language as its superstrate language and the indigenous Nigerian languages as its substrate languages. It is a language that is yet to have an approved orthography and standard spelling rules. In spite of these short-comings, Wardhaugh(1986)

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clearly states that pidgin is not a 'bad' variety of a language but has its own legitimacy, that is, its own history, structure and array of functions(p.55). Elugbe(1995) says that “the vocabulary of Nigerian pidgin is English while its grammar is Nigerian”(p.286).

Many Nigerian had before now had negative attitude towards Nigerian pidgin. Many saw it as 'broken English', 'vulgar', 'corrupt', and degrading while others saw it as the language of the illiterate and uneducated people. In spite of all these, the language continued to grow and expand its horizon in terms of utility. Today, it is seen as a language in its own right with its own essence and vitality. Oyo(2006) describes it as the “unity language of multilingual Nigeria”. Emenanjo(1985), Essien(2003), Egbokhare(2003), Oyo(2006, 2013) among others have called for its adoption as the national language in Nigeria as a result of its simplicity, neutrality, spread and popularity. It does not connote any fear of socio-economic and political domination as it belongs to no language group in Nigeria. It is used in the media, in public enlightenment, political campaigns, mass mobilization, awareness campaigns among others. It is used in many domains including the homes, churches, social gatherings, schools (informally), offices (informally). It is widely and proudly used in the Nigerian music and film industries.

A number of works on prose, poetry and drama have been published in Nigerian pidgin. Newspapers' articles have also been written in the language while many scholars have carried out notable research works on the language and have proved that it is a language in its own right capable of being described and analysed grammatically.

Many varieties of Nigerian pidgin have been identified as those of Ikom–Ogoja, Calabar, Warri/Sapele, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Aba, Onitsha among others.

The use of Nigerian pidgin in the Nigerian music industryThis work focuses on the use of Nigerian pidgin by many musicians in the rendition of

their music in contemporary Nigerian music industry. It tries to prove that the extensive use of Nigerian pidgin in this industry has helped in widening and expanding the scope of Nigerian pidgin as a language as listeners and lovers of the music are not only Nigerians. Lovers and followers of Nigerian music abound the world over. Nigerian musicians have used the language in the dissemination of their opinions, ideas, world view and thoughts and this language use has helped to serve as a successful means of social communication.

Many Nigerian musicians who specialize in various genres of music are neck-deep in the use of Nigerian pidgin for the rendition of their songs. This work has selected some of these musicians and their hit-tracks for discussion. It picks a stanza or two of each track of the musician for description and discussion. For instance:

Duncan Mighty's 'Na God'Wene mighty eheIt's anoda hot oneWene mighty leiYou you you youNo matter what you do, no be everbodi wey go like youEven say you be the world's best some people go dey call you oluku… call olukuBut I know say who chineke don bless no man can curse… no man no manI no need to rush, rushCos I dey tek am by force, force

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Omo nobody can stop o, stop oOmo na God, na God, na God….

In the lyric, Duncan Mighty, who specializes in the use of Nigerian pidgin in his songs, acknowledges God for all his success. He says that no matter what you do, it is not everybody who will like you. Even if you are the world's best, some people will not appreciate it as they will see you as a novice 'Oluku'. He says that he knows that whoever God has blessed, no man can curse such a person. He further acclaims that he does not need to rush because he is taking it by force. He re-emphasizes the fact that nobody can stop him and gives credit to God for whatever he is.

He has aptly captured the essence of his music through the use of Nigerian pidgin and the rhythmic quality of his sound tract backed up by some repetitions gives elegance to the music.

Basket Mouth's 'Wen I get moni'Wen I get moni shi go call me honeyWen di moni finish shi go call me monkiMe I no mind, I no vex atollMy papa and mama send message kom fo village say me I don reach to marryI tell dem say I neva si my choiceWen I si my choice I go bring am kom…

Here, Basket Mouth expresses the two sides of his woman who calls him 'honey' when there is money and calls him 'monkey' when there is no money. This sounds like a satire of women who base their love on the availability of money and then walk away when there is no money again.

He takes a position that he is not angry at all. He goes further to tell us of the pressure he gets from his parents who send message to him from the village that he is old enough to marry. He tells them that he has not yet seen his choice and when he does he will take her to them.

Basket Mouth has used Nigerian pidgin to express some societal issues like love of money and the pressure young men get from their parents to get married. The use of Nigerian pidgin in expressing these issues has made it succinct and very interesting.

Davido's 'Aye'Aye… oya jekeleAh ah ayeCos e want e my love oShe no want designerShe no want FerrariShe say na my love oYou belong to meAnd I belong to her oUh, baby You go kill e somebodyDem say love is blind

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But I dey si am fo your eyeFor your eye oShe fine pass deregoShe dey do like RonaldoMy sweety pararo…

Davido's song entitled 'Aye' talks about the love that exist between him and his girl whom he describes as 'my sweety poraro'. He uses the song to tell us of his love who, is not interested in mundane things like 'designer' – expensive wears, shoes and ornaments, “ferrari – used to symbolize expensive vehicles, as 'ferrari' itself is a kind of expensive car but is only interested in his love. He further tells us that they belong to each other. He says the girl can kill somebody, obviously with her love and that even when people say love is blind, he can see love in her eyes. He describes his girl as one who is more beautiful than “darego” – the name of one time Miss World and as one who performs like “ronaldo” – the name of one of the world's acclaimed footballer of the year and many times winner of World Footballer of the Year award.

Davido in this song proudly acknowledges the love his girl has for him and the love they both share which transcends material things of the world. He also acknowledges her beauty and her ability “to perform”. He coins a new Nigerian pidgin phrase to describe her – “my sweet 'poraro'”. He has, indeed, used Nigerian pidgin in putting his message across to the understanding of his fans.

Wizkid's 'On top your mata'I fit die on top your mataBaby girl God bless your motherEh baby oYou too fine pass mami waterBaby God bless your mother God bless your fatherI fit die on top your mata…eh baby o…

This is Wizkid's song of praise of his woman. He expresses this praise in Nigerian pidgin with an assurance that he can die for her (matter) and goes on to ask God to bless her parents, obviously for bringing such a beautiful girl to life. He goes on to say that she is more beautiful than the water goddess – “mami water”. In subsequent verses of the song he thanks God for meeting this girl after many searches and prays the love lasts.

Nigerian pidgin is used here to express love and emotion and it is a confirmation to the claim that the language can be used to express all forms of feelings, ideas and emotions to the clear understanding of listeners.

Blackmagic's 'Pass you by'Baba God blessing no goo pass you by Him go bless you so tey dem go ask you whyAnd di bad belle people dem go pass you byCos Baba God no go let you die ooohHe will let you fly

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Over the obstacles wey you dey face sometimes You just get to tryMake Baba God blessing no goo pass youThat time wey owu dey blow me yo ooI dey always call on amThat why him no go let me die ye ooo…

This is Blackmagic's song rendered in Nigerian pidgin which is a prayer to his numerous listeners. The song is optative in nature. It is a wish. He says God's blessings will not pass you (his listeners) by. He says you will be blessed until people question it, and the wicked people will not see you and God will not allow you to die. He prays that God will let you fly above all the obstacles of your enemies. He asks you to try to hold on to God so that his blessings will not pass us by. He tells us how he was always calling on God when he was facing tribulations ('owu' – hunger) and that is why He did not let him (Blackmagic) die.

Blackmagic's song clearly confirms the claim that Nigerian pidgin can be used in prayers. Today, the language is used in some churches in prayers, songs and preachings.

Korede Bello's 'God win'

… I don get alert God winAnd I don pay my rent God winDem be wan fall my hand but God winDem be wan steal my joy but God winI say anything I do na God win ohNa God win o Na God win o x 4I don change my name to God winOmo I don buy moto na God winDem say my market no go sell but God win…

Bello's 'God win' is a beautifully composed praise song written in Nigerian Pidgin to convey his message to his numerous listeners. In the song, Bello acknowledges and praises God for all his successes and achievements in life and for each one he gives God the glory.

'God win' simply means 'God has won' or 'God is victorious'. For getting bank alert, obviously for some good money paid into his account, and for paying his rent, he gives credit to God as the victor – 'God win'. He goes on to give God the glory for fighting his enemies who tried to disgrace him (fall my hand) and steal his joy.

He says that everything he does in life, it is God who wins and makes all possible. To affirm the place of God in his life, he tells us that he has changed his name to 'God win'.

Bello's 'God win' is one of the songs composed in Nigerian pidgin that is making waves. The use of Nigerian pidgin in its rendition has helped to popularize the music and give it rhythmic value. The language has helped the music to be enjoyed and appreciated by people of all ages and of different social strata.

Examples of some other songs rendered in Nigerian pidgin in recent times include Seyi Shay's “Crazy”, Kiss Daniel's “Woju”, Olumide's “Shelemba”, Wizkid's “Ofuelegba”, Faiz's “Marry me”, M.I. Abanga's “Bad Belle”, Blackmagic's “Africa” (Remix), Waye's “Onye”,

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Marvin's “Dorobuchi”, Praiz's “Mercy” (Remix), Yemi Alade's “Tangerine”, Flavour's “Waka up (Hololo)”, L.I. Kesh's “Shoki”, Timaya's “Sanko”, P-Square's “Shekini”, Mugu money spender, “Collabo”, 2Face and Wizkid's “Dance Go”, D'Prince's “OYO” (On your own), to mention but a few.

Lexical coinages in Nigerian pidgin by musiciansOyo(2013) states that Nigerian pidgin is rich in vocabulary with new words and

coinages gaining currency and new words created to fill in the gap in communication wherever necessary. In the Nigerian music industry, a number of Nigerian pidgin words have evolved through the morpholgical process of neologism. This is the process of creating new words for previously non-existent object or phenomena emanating from socio-cultural contact. It is also called coinage.

Contemporary Nigerian musicians have made popular Nigerian pidgin and have coined new lexical items and given meanings to them to suit their interest and purpose. Even though Ugot(2009) sees some of these lexical innovations as slang expressions because they are yet to be fully integrated into the lexicon of Nigerian pidgin, one thinks otherwise because the language is dynamic and adapts to current trends and ideas daily even as it has no approved orthography.

Some of the coinages drawn from the lyrics of popular Nigerian musicians our corpus and their meanings are:

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The English gloss (meaning) of the afore-mentioned coinages were given by respondents drawn from the University of Calabar, Cross River University of Technology and some disco junkies (DJs) in Calabar. It was found out that the meanings they assigned to the coinages were in most cases the same.

Conclusion Contemporary Nigerian popular music industry has grown and expanded in scope over

the past two decades. It is a very popular and fast growing industry in the country and the world over. Nigerian popular music is heard everywhere even in foreign radio and television stations. The industry is filled with talents, both the old and the young, competing for popularity and fame and for economic benefits. These musicians render their music in English languages or in Nigerian pidgin and the latter seem to be the language that has dominated the industry in recent time.

Nigerian pidgin has indeed transformed from a language considered in the past as the language of the uneducated, the peasants and the wretched to the 'unity' language of Nigeria that is serving many purposes. It is a popular language that has indeed grown and developed tremendously given it expanding functionality in the country. It is a language that has promoted greater unity in the country as it does not impact negatively on the smaller language communities. The language has multi-functional values in Nigeria and one of such is its popular use by many Nigerian popular musicians in the rendition of their songs.

The Nigerian music industry has indeed helped in the expansion, growth and development of Nigerian pidgin. The Nigerian popular musicians have exported the language through their music to many countries of the world and they have done this rigorously with pride. The musicians adopt new terms and concepts and adopt coinages in response to the socio-economic and political themes which they express in their songs.

Mensah(2011) states that the latest entries in the lexicon of Nigerian pidgin which are self-evolving are created out of linguistic and socio-historical contexts and not necessarily as a result of contact with English:(236).

Ugot(2009) notes that “through the use of Nigerian pidgin, our contemporary musicians have been able to in effect, control the music industry and by extension control the history, power and destiny of Nigeria, as reflected in their songs”(236). This paper has proved this assertion and has also proved that the Nigerian music industry has greatly expanded the horizon of Nigerian pidgin and has contributed immensely to its growth and development.

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