Politics, Identity, and Nostalgia in Nigerian Music: A Study of Victor Olaiya’s Highlife

Omojola focuses on the music of Victor Olaiya, one of Nigeria's pioneers of highlife music. Highlife music, which originated in Ghana within the first few decades of the twentieth century, had by the late 1950s become a popular regional genre in a number of West African countries, including Nig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnomusicology 2009-04, Vol.53 (2), p.249-276
Main Author: Omojola, Bode
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African music
Anthropology
Cognitive problems, arts and sciences, folk traditions, folklore
Cultural identity
Culture
Ethnic Studies
Ethnicity
Ethnology
Ethnomusicology
Highlife music
Music
Music instrumentation
Music research
Musical forms
Musical performance
Musical performances
Musical rhythm
Musicians
Musicians & conductors
Musicology
Nigeria
Nostalgia
Olaiya, Victor
Political identity
Politics
Popular music
Yoruba language
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Summary:Omojola focuses on the music of Victor Olaiya, one of Nigeria's pioneers of highlife music. Highlife music, which originated in Ghana within the first few decades of the twentieth century, had by the late 1950s become a popular regional genre in a number of West African countries, including Nigeria, Sierra-Leone, and Liberia. He also explores the analytical significance of nostalgia. In situating Olaiya's music within the dynamics of colonial and postcolonial environment in Nigeria, Omojola explains that the musical projection of Olaiya's Yoruba identity often reflects a nostalgic recall of his ancestral and cultural roots, while engaging the topical demands of social and political life in Nigeria. Furthermore, he also explains that Olaiya's strategic recall of Yoruba traditional elements in his works must he situated within a musical style that also speaks to his identity as a Nigerian, and as a West African who shares a similar political and cultural experience with other musicians from the West African sub-region.
ISSN:0014-1836
2156-7417
DOI:10.2307/25653068