The Rhythm, The Love, The Beat… Part One

I remember the day I fell in love with Nigerian music. It was one of those cool summer Sundays. The power had gone out and my uncle refused to turn the generator on, instead he sat outside in the breeze, with his little radio and tuned it to some afro beat station. Just then, Teacher don’t teach me Nonsense began to play, the timing, the trumpets, the meticulous arrangement of sound and melody…. moved me. Like the opening sequence for the matrix, my mind began this elaborate algorithm to figure out which way to move my body. (I’d later figure this out and buy beads to resemble Fela’s dancers). It wasn’t the first time that I had heard music, or Nigerian music for that matter, but Fela’s intentional musical arrangement, stopped my eight year old self, and made me very aware of my surroundings and its truths. One forever etched in my mind, is that Nigerian is just as good; and sometimes even better than foreign. I, even though only eight, had bought into the hype that the foreign, the Michael Jacksons, the Boys II men, Quincy Jones, were the epitome and quintessence of music, whereas the better of the crop were right in my home base. When I try to imagine that day, I laugh. Little me, with little chicken wing arms, flapping; stomping, wriggling and jiving; Nigerian music had birthed in my heart…. My love affair with Nigerian music comes along with suitcase nostalgia; I’m tossed back into the tangy orange taste of Fanta (and diluting it so that it would last longer), saving my bottle tops, so that I can play table soccer after, hunting for marbles, and of course dancing chairs!! There are so many artists and each with their own unique memory, I’ll attempt to share some, please free to share yours too! *This list is not in order of favorites or rank, and are only the ones I remember, please feel free to remind me of some and share memories, of when you fell in love as well*