CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The advent of foreign music like the hiphop, Reggae, Rock
& Roll, R & B, rap, jazz etc in Nigeria has been a welcome
phenomenon, while some people believe it has created a massive and
unappealing change in the life of the youths, insisting it’s slowly but
surely wiping out the Nigerian culture coupled with the perception
that the whole world is emulating America in a lot of ways, and Nigeria
is no exception (Leadership Newspaper, 2014).
It is a known fact that in the 21st century,
young Nigerians frequently cite Jay-Z and other foreign artist as their
favorite artist. American musics has provided a blueprint for the rest
of the world to appropriate and build new cultural formations that
manifest in music and identity. Yet, the subtitle of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 2
album, “The Gift and The Curse” is an apt description for the
complexity of the relationship between African American culture and
Nigerian youth identity, which also impacts Nigerian popular music
(Adeolu, 2011).
The foreign music culture has affected the way
many young people and even the elderly see themselves in Nigeria. Many
female contemporary musicians want to be like Beyonce, Rihanna,
Jennifer Lopez, Nicky Minaj, etc. They put on skimpy clothes that
expose all their natural endowments, ignoring the kind of society they
belong. They move around in shorts that could pass as underwear for men.
Their male counterparts put on clothes that don’t correspond with the
weather just because they want to appear cool. Still, to some extent,
the personal style of Nigerian music artistes is quite distinct. For
example, Phyno, who is known for weaving the Igbo dialect into his
music, has endeared fans all over the world with his funky hairstyle
and skinny pants. On the other hand, Olamide, from the yoruba cultural
setting, usually has a mix of western and local outlook in his
dressing and this goes a long way to influence the lifestyle of their
fans.
Many Nigerian artistes, as mentioned earlier, strive to be like
foreign entertainers, at the expense of their own cultural values and
modes of expression. When they put down lyrics, they are usually
replete with words and expressions quite alien to the conservative
society they belong. While technology has enhanced acceptability of
otherwise strange phenomenon, many Nigerians frown at the continued
denudation of our culture.
Warri is a city in Delta State, Nigeria. It is an
oil hub in Southern Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State
Government House. It served as the colonial capital of the then Warri
Province. It shares boundaries with Ughelli/Agbarho, Sapele, Okpe, Udu
and Uvwie although most of these places, notably Udu, Okpe and Uvwie,
have been integrated to the larger cosmopolitan Warri. Osubi houses an
airport that serves the city. Effurun serves as the gateway to and the
economic nerve of the city. Towns in the Warri metropolis include:
Ogbe-Ijo, Aladja, Ekurede Itsekiri, Jakpa, Ubeji, Ugbuwangue,
Ifie-Kporo, Egbokodo Itsekiri, Ajamimogha, Pessu, Koko, Ugbolokoso,
Ugborodo, Ajagbodudu, Iyara, Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri), Osubi, Effurun,
Enerhen, Ugborikoko, Agbarho, Deco, Okuokoko, Ebrumede, DSC Township,
Ugbomro, Edjeba, Ekurede-Urhobo, Okere, Agbassa, Ogidigben, Gbaramatu,
among others.
The city of Warri has a unique history that has
not been documented well enough by historians. The name Warri province
was once applicable to the part of an area now called Delta State under
the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Its boundary in the
Northeast was Sapele/Udu creek near Ughelli and Aboh, with Forçados
River in the Southeast and Jameson Creek in the Southwest which later
changed to Delta Province. Warri city is one of the major hubs of
petroleum activities and businesses in the southern Nigeria. It is a
commercial capital city of Delta State, with a population of over
311,970 people according to the national population census figures for
2006. The city is one of cosmopolitan cities in southern Nigeria
comprising originally of Urhobo, Itsekiri and Ijaw people. Warri is
predominantly Christian with mixture of African traditional religions
like most of the Southern Nigeria. The city is known nationwide for its
unique Pidgin English (Wikipedia, 2015).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria today, the youths have become a brain washed set of
youths who think more of other peoples culture of such music aired on
various satellite media that are produced overseas. About 97 percent of
such foreign music have violent and romantic traits. Many Nigerian
youth get their phones and other personal digital assistants (PDAs)
like MP3, Ipad loaded with thousands of foreign music which might
contain thousand of death and heartbreaks, heard harsh and brutal
languages “fuck you”, a son of bitch, nigger men and kiss my ass etc.
It is also believe to have influence dressing and has contributed to
behavioral changes in youths in general. However, the researcher is
examining the influence of foreign music on the lifestyle of Nigeria
youth with special; focus on Warri, Delta State.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the influence of foreign music on the lifestyle of Nigeria youth.
- To examine the morality of the foreign music content.
- To determine the level of acceptance of foreign music by Nigerian youths.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- What is the influence of foreign music on the lifestyle of Nigeria youth?
- What is the level of morality of the foreign music content?
- What is the level of acceptance of foreign music by Nigerian youths?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO: Foreign music does not influence the lifestyle of Nigerian youths.
HA: Foreign music does influence the lifestyle of Nigerian youths.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of this study:
- The outcome of this study will educate the Nigerian general
public on the influence of the foreign music on the lifestyle of
Nigerian youths.
- This research will also serve as a resource base to other
scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in
this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide
new explanation to the topic.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study on the influence of foreign music on the lifestyle of
Nigeria youth will cover the content of popular foreign music in
Nigeria with a view of identifying the lifestyle changes it causes on
the youths.
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to
impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant
materials, literature or information and in the process of data
collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This
consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
REFERENCES
Adeolu, A.J. (2011): Effect of Hiphop on the attitude of Teenagers. Journal of Social Research, 5(4)
Leadership Newspaper, 28th August, 2014
Wikipedia (2015): www.wikipedia.com