Why some Igbo musicians sing in Igbo

Posted by Chidinma on Friday September 26, 2014 at 10:2:55:

For a while, it appeared as if musicians that sang in Igbo language were not sellable except for a few of them, but nowadays it appears that Igbo music is back and it is becoming a trend for Igbo musicians to sing songs in their native Igbo language. Reknown musicians like Nigga Raw, Phyno, and Slow Dog just to mention a few now base the lyrics of their songs in Igbo language. In this article, I will give 2 possible reasons why Igbo musicians sing in Igbo language.

- To Represent Their Cultural Heritage: In as much as Nigeria was colonized by British colonial master and English language became our lingua Franca, each tribe in Nigeria has a rich cultural background and heritage and distinct language; Igbo musicians sing in Igbo language to identify and represent the Igbo cultural heritage making others know that they are proud of being Igbo’s by origin.

- As A Means Of Preserving and Promoting The Igbo Culture: Some people are not so proud of the Igbo language; some parents even train their children with English language forgetting to teach them their mother tongue; Igbo musicians that sing in Igbo are preserving the Igbo culture letting Igbos who are not so proud of the language know that the language is worth preserving, and this single act has motivated most parents to teach their children the language since their idols or starts are representing the language too. Even on the international scene, they preserve and promote the language as they sing it while on tour making others curious about the language and cultural identity of the people

- To make their music marketable: Yes, this is also another possible reason. It is reported that the population of Igbo people within and outside Nigeria has grown after the Biafran war and could now run up to 40 million. Yes, Ndigbo could form a nation for themselves if they want to and so it only makes sense for people who want to market their songs to Igbo people to sing in a language that their potentail buyers can identify with. Singing in Igbo helps the Igbos identify with them and are more likely to patronize them unlike if they sang in an English language that is seen as a bit foreign.