An assessment of Nigeria urban youth music

Music embodies culture, expressing relevant features of a people’s life. Music is an integral aspect of African culture, occupying a special place in the celebration of birth and death and other events in-between. Indeed it is difficult to imagine life without music in traditional Nigerian society where all strata and age groups have their own music; a richness of life that urban communities failed to totally replicate, being that they are composites of ethno-linguistic fragments. Thus, the evolving youth popular music culture is significant in many respects, especially as it cuts across ethnic divides and provides entertainment for a group in heretofore largely ignored in Nigerian urban society. Its potentials, and its retrogressive potency, in national development require that popular culture be studied to ascertain the message and mindset of active and passive participants. This article summarises aspects of youth music in Nigeria as assessed by undergraduate students.