The dark side of Nigerian music
It is no longer news that Nigerian music has attained global recognition.
It is making unprecedented inroads into the world’s hearts, clubs, and auditoriums, propelled by catchy beats, filled with an actual street quality that the world finds more interesting than the bland American ghetto version, and fronted by charming adolescents with seductive swag. From India to London, New York to Johannesburg, there is evidence of Afrobeats’ appeal and acceptability everywhere you turn and look.
The industry, now one of the largest in the world, generates two billion dollars annually, mostly from digital streaming and downloads. It employs thousands of Nigerians and provides for possibly hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, including families. Key players in the sector include over 500 music producers and over 1000 record labels. There are also over 50 radio stationswhich chronicle and celebrate the hits that are becoming continental and global staples. Perhaps most impressively, Nigerian music has over 30 million monthly listeners worldwide.
But as the MohBad story illustrates, there is also a very dark side to the industry’s success. Many upcoming musicians are treated like modern day slaves, forced to sign away their rights by labels. There are allegations that some of the labels are financed by yahoo and drug money. Poorly regulated and opaque, big boys in the sector operate more like Mafia bosses than CEOs, deploying police and thugs to deal with uncooperative musicians who refuse to do their bidding. Mohbad’s story is sadly common but he was notable for two reasons: his determination to keep standing despite serial abuses as well as going public with his painthrough his songs.
Mohbad’s life and death is a metaphor for the many things wrong with the Nigerian music industry, for the sharp thorns in the thick undergrowth hidden behind the colourful stages where stars, old and newly minted, holdsway. It is a reminder that for every star who emerges out of the ghetto, millions of others remain stuck in the muck, struggling against great odds to escape. And that even for those who have made some progress, released some music and earned an underground reputation – like Mohbad – things can go south in a moment, sometimes fatally. To improve the odds, there is urgent need to expose and punish the cruel masters holding dreams hostage, for better regulation and enforcement of relevant laws to protect the most important resource of the Nigerian music industry: starry eyed youths yearning for stardom.