Original image, Others
- Writer, Isiyaku Muhammed
- Name the person who wrote the story, BBC Hausa
- Send a report from Abuja
At the same time that Southern Nigerian singers are competing to participate in major international conferences, and organizing international conferences, their counterparts in the Northern part of the country are still struggling to gain acceptance, a situation experts say is not related to the language and culture. and religion.
Times have come with changes in the music sector in Nigeria, especially in the North of the country, where young people are found showing off their skills.
In the past, there were mostly professional singers, royalty and public awareness, before political and entertainment songs started.
The Kannywood industry has helped to promote Hausa songs in the North, producing talented singers.
But another thing that causes debate among the people of the songs is whether the singers of the North are enjoying their art like the South and other parts of the world?
Even on YouTube, the BBC noticed that the singers of the North were attacked. For example, the song ‘Buga’ by singer Kiz Daniel released on June 22, 2022 has 220,142,316 downloads.
Southern Nigerian singers who have participated in international conferences
Rema
Original image, Rema/Facebook
His name is Divine Ikubor but he is better known as Rema in the gambara music industry.
Rema attended the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony held on October 30, 2023, where he sang the song ‘Calm Down’.
He is the first Nigerian singer to be invited in the history of the event.
Tiwa Savage
Original image, Tiwa/Facebook
Her name is Tiwatope Omolara Savage popularly known as Tiwa who is 44 years old and is a singer and Nollywood actress.
She is famous in the field of African songs and dance.
Tiwa attended the coronation ceremony of the King of England, King Charles III.
Burn Boy
Original image, Burna boy/Facebook
And singer Damini Oguku, popularly known as Burna Boy, attended the launch of the European Champions League at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey on June 10, 2023.
After this, Southern singers are organizing concerts in countries around the world.
David Adeleke popularly known as Davido attended the 50th Footballers’ Association Awards in Manchester on August 29, 2023.
Ayodeji Balogun, who is also known as Wizkid, organized a memorial service at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on July 29, 2023. The event had 45,000 participants.
Why are Hausa singers left behind?
Abubakar Sani is a famous singer in Kannywood who can be said to have seen yesterday and seen today in music.
According to him, “Originally in the South, we know Yoruba songs. To be fair and honest, we have taken the style of nanaye as most of our songs are for movies. Then later we started CD.”
He said that musicians in the North have not yet received much recognition, which he said helped to bring the movement to a halt.
“Our contribution to the language is not being looked at. Songs, movies and writers have contributed a lot to our language. But it is in the North that the singer will help in politics, after the campaign is over, if you are not lucky, you will see that the singer from the South is taken on the day of his inauguration,” he said, adding that the people of the South are give their singers the help they need.
Original image, Abubakar Sani / Facebook
Ibrahim Sheme’s opinion
Original image, Ibrahim Sheme/Facebook
In order to find out why this is happening, the BBC contacted Malam Ibrahim Sheme, who is an expert on Kannywood and movies, where he said that the nature of the language is one of the reasons for this.
According to him, “Most of them are Hausa singers and Hausa is the language of others, not common.”
However, he said that even in the South there are Yoruba and Igbo songs, which he explained are not as effective as the English ones.
“Even on the likes of YouTube, English users earn more money than Hausa users. That’s why English people are invited because they are better known and they are more civilized than us to enter places. For example, we have singers in Europe such as Chizo Germany and Bello Cisko, but the English ones are better known than them. English is a universal language.”
Dr. Muhsin Ibrahim, a teacher at the University of Cologne in Germany stated that the situation is not related to religion and culture.
“There are things that are common in world songs about how men and women mix or the way they wear clothes. We are trying to keep this kind of people, although I don’t mean that they are suitable for the religious world, but this has reduced the interest of the songs in the world market. Then there is the quality, where maybe not everyone has the money to spend to make it very high quality, for example in the camera and hiring a director and a big producer.
“And in Northern Nigeria, there are no people who promote and promote entertainment as effectively as Lagos.”
What should they do?
Regarding how to do it so that the singers can reach the international level, Ibrahim Sheme said, “They should start making songs in English and mix them with Hausa. For example, if a person does five Hausa, he should do one English.”
And Abubakar Sani said, “We used to make 10 million or 20 million CDs up to 100 million. Calculate for me at that time we were giving sari at 50 naira. Count 50 naira times 1 million and see. And YouTube before you start making money there is difficulty, then there is a lack of structure. Someone steals my song and uploads it. If I take it and put it on my station, mine will be closed.”
He also called on his colleagues to correct the language, and to study and research.
“I often use the example of Abubukar Liman’s song God, God, God, let us unite in the North and love each other. You see there is no music but still when you listen to it, you can feel it touching you. Then the government helped us to change the process and make a branch that will be awarded even if it is a small diploma.”
