Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria

Endong; Floribert Patrick Calvain

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria

Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain

Published in Advances in Sciences and Humanities (Volume 2, Issue 6)

Received: 22 September 2016 Accepted: 8 October 2016 Published: 18 October 2017

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Abstract

Most Nigerian popular musicians have made sex and sexuality dominant themes of their musical production and veritable “baits” used to attract an ever growing prurient public of fans. Despite the presence of various forms of censorship mechanisms in the country, obscenity - as a form of language and artistic/esthetic expression in both lyrical text and pop video - is now perceived as a functional trend and a “tradition” in music composition and performance. The prevalence of obscenity in music production irrefutably brings to the fore the question of the effectiveness of music censorship in Nigeria. Based on a desk research approach and a textual analysis of some hip-hop songs, this paper explores the pervasive use of pornography in Nigerian music production and goes further to interrogate the credibility of music censorship in Nigeria. This, it does through revisiting the various music regulatory organs/forces and assessing their effective functioning. It argues that the radical cultural changes in the Nigerian society - provoked by globalization and western cultural imperialism – warrant the rethinking and (re)definition of the obscene and thus, the rethinking of strategies to censor music. It advocates more radical and dissuasive measures (sanctions) – approaches other than banning songs from radio/TV broadcast – in order to effectively combat prurience in the musical production. These radical sanctions may include the severe repression of the distribution of sex explicit musical content in the whole country as well as the repression of the performance and promotion of such music in contexts where children are present.

Published in	Advances in Sciences and Humanities (Volume 2, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
Page(s)	63-69
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Obscenity, Nigerian Hip-Hop, Music Censorship, Sex

References

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[3]	National Broadcasting Commission. Nigerian Broadcasting Code. Lagos: Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, 2012.
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[5]	McQuail, Denis. & Windahls, S. Communication Models for the Study of Mass communication. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited, 1993.
[6]	Servant, Jean-Christophe. Which way Nigeria? Music under Threat: A Question of money, Morality, Self-Censorship and the sharia. Denmark: Freemuse, 2003.
[7]	Coolnan, Martin. Popular Music Censorship in Africa: An Overview. Retrived September 14, 2016 from www.popularmusicsensorshipinafrica.com.
[8]	Endong Floribert Patrick & Obonganwan, Edim. Sex in Christian Movies: A Study of Roger Young’s The Bible: Joseph and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. International Journal of Communication and Media Science, 2(2), 2015, 11-21.
[9]	Adeyemi, A. The Musician as Archivist: an Example of Nigeria’s Lagbaja. Itupale Online Journal of African Studies, 1(1), 2009, 1-23
[10]	Endong Floribert Patrick Calvain. Religiosity Versus Spirituality in the Contemporary Nigerian Gospel Music. HSS: Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(2), 2016, 133-144.
[11]	Endong, Floribert Patrick Calavin & Vareba, Anthony Leva. Condemning Pornography in the Open, Enjoying it in Secret: A Content Analysis of Online Commenters’ Perceptions of Soft Porn in Nollywood. SBSRR: Social and Basic Science Research Review 3(10), 2015, 354-363.
[12]	. Hirsch, Afua. Nigeria’s Film and Music Industry Falls Foul of Censors. The Guardian, September 10 Edition, 2013, 31-34.
[13]	Hadith, E. Shun Music: Who are the Sinful Women According to the Qur’an? Illorin: Islamic Books, 2008,
[14]	Daramola, Yomi. Islamic and Islamized Musical Cultures Among the Yoruba: The Contact, the Concept and the Concord. African Musicology Online 1(2), 2007, 46-58.
[15]	Adeniji Sesan. The Need for Censorship on Nigerian TV. Mystreetz Magazine, March 2nd Edition, 2015, 16-19
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[17]	Liali, O. F. & Omobowale, A. O. Music Multilingualism and Hip Hop consumption Among Youths in Nigeria. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 3(12), 2011, 469-477.
[18]	Anemone, C. & Dean, K. S. Sex Doesn’t Sell – Nor Impress! Content, Box Office, Critics and Award in Mainstream Cinema. Psychology of Aesthetic Creativity and the Arts, 3(4), 2009, 200-210.
[19]	Akande V. If sex is it, let Ghanaian Movies Rule! The Nation, Saturday January 16 Edition, 2010, 21-36.
[20]	Nkechi, C. M. An Assessment of Nogeria Urban Youth Music. Khazar Journal of humanities and Social Sciences. 2(14), 2010, 65-79.
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Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain. (2017). Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Advances in Sciences and Humanities, 2(6), 63-69. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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Endong; Floribert Patrick Calvain. Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Adv. Sci. Humanit. 2017, 2(6), 63-69. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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AMA Style

Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain. Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Adv Sci Humanit. 2017;2(6):63-69. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12,
  author = {Endong and Floribert Patrick Calvain},
  title = {Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria},
  journal = {Advances in Sciences and Humanities},
  volume = {2},
  number = {6},
  pages = {63-69},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ash.20160206.12},
  abstract = {Most Nigerian popular musicians have made sex and sexuality dominant themes of their musical production and veritable “baits” used to attract an ever growing prurient public of fans. Despite the presence of various forms of censorship mechanisms in the country, obscenity - as a form of language and artistic/esthetic expression in both lyrical text and pop video - is now perceived as a functional trend and a “tradition” in music composition and performance. The prevalence of obscenity in music production irrefutably brings to the fore the question of the effectiveness of music censorship in Nigeria. Based on a desk research approach and a textual analysis of some hip-hop songs, this paper explores the pervasive use of pornography in Nigerian music production and goes further to interrogate the credibility of music censorship in Nigeria. This, it does through revisiting the various music regulatory organs/forces and assessing their effective functioning. It argues that the radical cultural changes in the Nigerian society - provoked by globalization and western cultural imperialism – warrant the rethinking and (re)definition of the obscene and thus, the rethinking of strategies to censor music. It advocates more radical and dissuasive measures (sanctions) – approaches other than banning songs from radio/TV broadcast – in order to effectively combat prurience in the musical production. These radical sanctions may include the severe repression of the distribution of sex explicit musical content in the whole country as well as the repression of the performance and promotion of such music in contexts where children are present.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria
AU  - Endong
AU  - Floribert Patrick Calvain
Y1  - 2017/10/18
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N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
T2  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
JF  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
JO  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
SP  - 63
EP  - 69
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-0984
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
AB  - Most Nigerian popular musicians have made sex and sexuality dominant themes of their musical production and veritable “baits” used to attract an ever growing prurient public of fans. Despite the presence of various forms of censorship mechanisms in the country, obscenity - as a form of language and artistic/esthetic expression in both lyrical text and pop video - is now perceived as a functional trend and a “tradition” in music composition and performance. The prevalence of obscenity in music production irrefutably brings to the fore the question of the effectiveness of music censorship in Nigeria. Based on a desk research approach and a textual analysis of some hip-hop songs, this paper explores the pervasive use of pornography in Nigerian music production and goes further to interrogate the credibility of music censorship in Nigeria. This, it does through revisiting the various music regulatory organs/forces and assessing their effective functioning. It argues that the radical cultural changes in the Nigerian society - provoked by globalization and western cultural imperialism – warrant the rethinking and (re)definition of the obscene and thus, the rethinking of strategies to censor music. It advocates more radical and dissuasive measures (sanctions) – approaches other than banning songs from radio/TV broadcast – in order to effectively combat prurience in the musical production. These radical sanctions may include the severe repression of the distribution of sex explicit musical content in the whole country as well as the repression of the performance and promotion of such music in contexts where children are present.
VL  - 2
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Endong
Floribert Patrick Calvain

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain. (2017). Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Advances in Sciences and Humanities, 2(6), 63-69. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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ACS Style

Endong; Floribert Patrick Calvain. Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Adv. Sci. Humanit. 2017, 2(6), 63-69. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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AMA Style

Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain. Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria. Adv Sci Humanit. 2017;2(6):63-69. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12,
  author = {Endong and Floribert Patrick Calvain},
  title = {Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria},
  journal = {Advances in Sciences and Humanities},
  volume = {2},
  number = {6},
  pages = {63-69},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ash.20160206.12},
  abstract = {Most Nigerian popular musicians have made sex and sexuality dominant themes of their musical production and veritable “baits” used to attract an ever growing prurient public of fans. Despite the presence of various forms of censorship mechanisms in the country, obscenity - as a form of language and artistic/esthetic expression in both lyrical text and pop video - is now perceived as a functional trend and a “tradition” in music composition and performance. The prevalence of obscenity in music production irrefutably brings to the fore the question of the effectiveness of music censorship in Nigeria. Based on a desk research approach and a textual analysis of some hip-hop songs, this paper explores the pervasive use of pornography in Nigerian music production and goes further to interrogate the credibility of music censorship in Nigeria. This, it does through revisiting the various music regulatory organs/forces and assessing their effective functioning. It argues that the radical cultural changes in the Nigerian society - provoked by globalization and western cultural imperialism – warrant the rethinking and (re)definition of the obscene and thus, the rethinking of strategies to censor music. It advocates more radical and dissuasive measures (sanctions) – approaches other than banning songs from radio/TV broadcast – in order to effectively combat prurience in the musical production. These radical sanctions may include the severe repression of the distribution of sex explicit musical content in the whole country as well as the repression of the performance and promotion of such music in contexts where children are present.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Illicit Content in the Nigerian Hip-Hop: A Probe into the Credibility of Music Censorship in Nigeria
AU  - Endong
AU  - Floribert Patrick Calvain
Y1  - 2017/10/18
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
T2  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
JF  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
JO  - Advances in Sciences and Humanities
SP  - 63
EP  - 69
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-0984
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20160206.12
AB  - Most Nigerian popular musicians have made sex and sexuality dominant themes of their musical production and veritable “baits” used to attract an ever growing prurient public of fans. Despite the presence of various forms of censorship mechanisms in the country, obscenity - as a form of language and artistic/esthetic expression in both lyrical text and pop video - is now perceived as a functional trend and a “tradition” in music composition and performance. The prevalence of obscenity in music production irrefutably brings to the fore the question of the effectiveness of music censorship in Nigeria. Based on a desk research approach and a textual analysis of some hip-hop songs, this paper explores the pervasive use of pornography in Nigerian music production and goes further to interrogate the credibility of music censorship in Nigeria. This, it does through revisiting the various music regulatory organs/forces and assessing their effective functioning. It argues that the radical cultural changes in the Nigerian society - provoked by globalization and western cultural imperialism – warrant the rethinking and (re)definition of the obscene and thus, the rethinking of strategies to censor music. It advocates more radical and dissuasive measures (sanctions) – approaches other than banning songs from radio/TV broadcast – in order to effectively combat prurience in the musical production. These radical sanctions may include the severe repression of the distribution of sex explicit musical content in the whole country as well as the repression of the performance and promotion of such music in contexts where children are present.
VL  - 2
IS  - 6
ER  -

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