The Communicativeness of Select Nigerian Afro-hip-hop Lyrics and Sociological Perception of Women

Abstract

The communicativeness of music in African culture and society is enormous and its usage is encompassing. Music is one of the most common forms by which humans express their emotions, feelings and sentiments. The last two decades have witnessed a tremendous growth in the Afro-hip-hop music culture in Nigeria. Because of its enormous appeal, it has been used as a medium for expressing varieties of ideas, feelings and emotions. However, there has been a growing concern over the negative impact of the music on the perception of women in the society. Recently, frequent rape cases in Nigeria are reported on the pages of newspapers on an unprecedented scale. The sudden upsurge of the number of rape cases in Nigeria has been condemned by several quarters and it is becoming worrisome. Highly placed people in the society in Nigeria, non-governmental organizations, governments and pressure groups including Afro-hip-hop artistes have come up using their social media handles to condemn the alluded ugly matter. Fingers are pointed to the moral decadence among the youths in the society due to the erotic and sexually laced lyrics of Afro-hip-hop music they consume daily. The Afro-hip-hop music industry is massively dominated by the male folks and when listening to their lyrics closely communicate misogynistic tendencies by reducing women to mere sex objects to be desired, used and dumped at will by men. The question is after churning out lyrics that communicate and promote sexual abuse, do the Afro-hip-hop music artistes have the moral justification to join other highly placed Nigerians to condemn the spate of rape and sexual violence against women? The author empirically analyses the communicativeness of the lyrics of these top Afro-hip-hop music artistes and how their lyrics promote and encourage sexual abuse against women. Social identity theory and uses and gratifications theory informed the frameworks for this study. Thematic analysis of Nigerian Afro-hip-hop lyrics teemed with sexual and erotic notes were analysed to find out the symbiotic relationship between such lyrics and violent sexual behaviours against women. It was recommended that female Nigerian Afro-hip-hop artistes can use their lyrics to counter and promote values, virtues as well as discourage, reduce and mitigate vices such as rape in the society that their male counterparts in the industry are promoting.