Lecturer decries immorality in Naija hip-pop genre

Albert Oikelome, a lecturer at the department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, on Thursday, said that hip-hop music genre had promoted immorality and indecency in Nigeria.

Mr Oikelome told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that there was a missing link between contemporary Nigeria music hip-hop and the grand oldies of the 1960s and the 1970s.

“Our local and classical traditional orchestras, highlife songs which define the nation’s music industry, are no more. Proverbial songs and sounds filled with gongs and lyrics with words of wisdom are missing.

“They were the kind of music which thrills us so much so that we forget our political problems and socio-economic inequalities,” he said.

The lecturer noted that there has been a growing concern on the negative impact of the hip-hop music on youth in the country, adding that in spite of the seeming financial success and popularity of the musicians, hip- hop culture has been frequently condemned for its exploitation of women nudity.

He regretted that most of the hip-hop and rap genre artistes have a lot of vulgarity, sexual resonance, preposterous violence, drugs, and good-time symbolism.

Mr Oikelome stressed that the sexual content in hip-hop movies and songs “leaves much to be desired”. He gave examples of some of the vulgar languages which evolved from Naija hip-pop as ‘Ori e ofoka sibe’, ‘hotter than fire’, and ‘enter the place’.

“The songs also glorify the get-rich quick syndrome called 419, and this is because the marketers and music promoters in the country want to make money,” he said.

He said it was regrettable that the sexual exploitation in hip-hop music is carried out with the consent and collaboration of women who are mostly undergraduates, who get peanuts for doing that.

He, however, commended some hip-hop musicians for positively promoting Nigeria in the international music scene.

He gave examples of such musicians as Innocent Idibia a.k.a Tuface, Abolore Akande-- a.k.a. 9ice, Chibuzor Orji, and others.

These, Mr Oikelome said, employed hip-hop as a medium in propagation of peace, love, and tolerance in the troubled Niger Delta area of the country.