Nigeria
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"In the early to mid 1970s, three of the biggest names in Nigerian music history were at their peak: Fela Kuti, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Adé." --Sholem Stein |
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Country in West Africa. Official name: Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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Culture
Music
Many late 20th century musicians such as Fela Kuti have famously fused cultural elements of various indigenous music with American Jazz and Soul to form Afrobeat music.
Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music. Nigeria's musical output has achieved international acclaim not only in the fields of folk and popular music, but also Western art music written by composers such as Fela Sowande.
Literature
Nigeria has a rich literary history, and Nigerians have authored many influential works of post-colonial literature in the English language. Nigeria's best-known writers are Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature and Chinua Achebe, the legendary writer best known for the novel, Things Fall Apart. Other Nigerian writers and poets who are well known on the international stage include John Pepper Clark, Ben Okri, Buchi Emecheta, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ken Saro Wiwa who was executed in 1995 by the military regime.
Media
Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere.
Nigerian music includes many kinds of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments and songs. As a result, there are many different types of music that come from Nigeria.
Many late 20th century musicians such as Fela Kuti have famously fused cultural elements of various indigenous music with American Jazz and Soul to form Afrobeat music. JuJu music which is percussion music fused with traditional music from the Yoruba nation and made famous by King Sunny Ade, is also from Nigeria. There is also fuji music, a Yoruba percussion style, created and popularized by the one and only Mr. Fuji, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.
There is a budding hip hop movement in Nigeria. Kennis Music, the self proclaimed "No 1 Record Label in Africa" and one of Nigeria's biggest record labels, has a roster almost entirely dominated by hip hop artists.
World famous musicians that come from Nigeria are Fela Kuti, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Femi Kuti, Lagbaja, Dr. Alban, Sade Adu.
The Nigerian Film Industry also known as Nollywood is famous throughout Africa. Many of the film studios are based in Lagos and Abuja and the industry is now a very lucrative income for these cities.
Politics
Since 2002, the country has seen sectarian violence by Boko Haram an Islamist movement that seeks to abolish the secular system of government and establish Sharia law in the country.
See also
