Constructing National Identity through Music: Examples from Selected Nigerian Musical Compositions

Abstract

Since time immemorial identity has been closely related with culture. Culture being, beliefs, traditions, values of a  certain group of people, and one of the tools used to propagate the culture/identity of a people was folklore which  includes folksongs. As folksongs were one of the tools used to teach a generation the rights and wrongs of a given  culture in the past, so is popular music in contemporary society. One of the driving mediums for passing down cultural  identity of a particular society is popular music. Studies have purportedly shown that music has a lasting impression  than other genres. It’s a veritable medium for conveying a people’s culture because culture is imbedded in music. Using  selected songs of Flavour, Phyno and Olamide, this paper examines the effect of contemporary Nigerian musical  compositions illuminating how these artists have used music to portray their Nigerian identity. This is carried out  through the qualitative research method where primary data is gotten from selected songs of the three prominent  Nigeria artists and the secondary data from the internet, books, journals and other relevant materials. The paper reveals that there is a national identity in music through the use of language to express one’s self and to distinguish oneself  from others.