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When we first meet Israel and Ngozi Nwidor and
Barine Wiwa-Lawani in a displaced persons camp in
Benin, we hear the voices of their fellow refugees
singing about their plight. When they and others
Ogonis were forced to flee their homes, their musical
heritage traveled with them.
The Ogonis’ homeland of Nigeria boasts an
extremely rich and varied musical landscape. With
more than 400 different cultural groups inhabiting
this small country on the west coast of Africa,
Nigeria is a musical powerhouse. Many of Nigeria's
stars have become international music sensations
and their influence has infiltrated American music
styles, from pop to dance to rock.
While American listeners had been enjoying the influence of African music in jazz, blues, gospel and rock for years, African artists who crossed over were rightfully credited in 1986, when American musician Paul Simon collaborated with South African artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Boyoyo Boys and Baghiti Khumalo for his Grammy-winning album Graceland. The chart-topping hit was certainly not the only African music available in the United States, but it blended African rhythms and vocals with an American pop sound, capturing the zeitgeist of the time.
While the Ogonis do not occupy their own specific
musical niche, we can see in The New Americans
that music is very important to them. In the Benin
camp, they sing both homegrown and internationally
known political folk songs accompanied by guitar.
We hear them play the familiar protest anthem, “We
Shall Overcome,” a song often heard in oppressed
communities around the globe.
Musicians and singers such as King Sunny Ade, Fela
Kuti, Babatunde Olatunji, Sade and Seal all hail
from Nigeria, a country a little more than twice
the size of California. Americans lump many of these
musicians together in the “world music”
category, but in Nigeria, their styles are considered
worlds apart. Sade and Seal both used their vocals
to become international pop stars. King Sunny Ade,
also an international star, is the world's best-known
juju artist. Fela Kuti mixed traditional Nigerian
music styles with jazz, funk and big band, creating
a musical style he dubbed Afro-beat. And Babtunde
Olatunji is a world-class drummer, rising out of
the Nigerian Yoruba culture. |
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| The Woody Band of
Ogoniland performs a song about the political
and environmental struggles of the Ogoni people. |
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