Back in secondary school Literature class, the subject teacher would ask us the “recurring theme” in Silas Marner.
The question was guaranteed to annoy half the class. It was not because they did not know the answer, but because they did not care to be asked questions.
This is not a piece on literature or high school shenanigans. It’s just an introduction to another opinion nobody asked us to give!
The theme of Nigerian music is women/money
If anyone asked us the theme or subject matter of most Nigerian music, the answer would be easy. It is women and/or money and money and/or women.
Tekno Miles Image Source Youtube
This in itself is not a MAJOR problem. And surely, in singing about women or money it makes sense to put women in the music videos as well.
But this is where it gets ludicrous. Somewhere, somehow, Nigerian music stars decided that the women to be featured in their music videos would be naked. Please, thong bikinis that have already been swallowed by ginormous backsides do not count as clothing!
What are music videos?
Music videos are visual interpretations or presentation of the lyrics of a song. It is usually released after the song has had some air play. One of the aims of the music video is to extend the shelf life of the song, so to say.
Music videos often carry a message, along with entertainment value. Sometimes a music video is a short but complete film with conflict, a villain or two and surprise endings and all.
But this is usually not the case with Nigerian music videos. No one is certain when it happened, but sometime in the last six years, bum-bums also known as “bakkassi” and also known as “ukwu” became the focal point of Nigerian music videos.
Why the fixation on bum-bums?
Over the years, some Nigerian musicians surely mentioned “ikebes” as the hips of females was known then, in their music. However, one may say that the “Bum-Bum” renaissance of present times was started by Timaya (I think he won an award for it) with his 2012 song titled, yes, you guessed it, “Bum-Bum”.
He followed that in 2014 with another single he titled “Ukwu“. In 2018, Timaya did not directly say “Ukwu” or “Bum-Bum”, but you have to suspect that some of his offerings for that year, namely, “Ah blem, blem” and “Kom Kom” (really excellent tunes by the way) must mean “Ukwu” in his native Ijaw language!
Even the female artistes are not left out. In 2017, Yemi Alade crooned, “one for the party, two for the money, three for the honey, four when you shake your bum-bum” (whatever that means).
The irony of it all
So with all these odes to the female backside, does it not make sense to PUT that part of the female anatomy in the music videos? Not all the time, no. And not if those backsides are nearly naked.
Mayorkun in Fantasy
If you are Mayorkun living a Fantasy or you are those Forkanizer dudes aka Skuki (I had to wash out my eyes with holy water after watching that Forkanizer video), then you may.
From bum shorts to bikinis to lingerie and unabashed simulations of sex, the naked bum-bums usage in music videos keeps getting weirder.
The irony is that these over-the-top displays deny fans the scintillating showmanship of natural born entertainers of the likes of Wizkid, D’banj, Lil Kesh, etc.
These artists just stand around (even sit sometimes!), instead of showing us those amazing moves.
All is for the money
We get it; sex sells and we need to GET that money. But whatever happened to having a message, creativity, drama, diverse entertainment, pushing the envelope, breaking new grounds? From Afro Pop music channel to MTV Base, the story is the same; twerking girls in the skimpiest bikinis.
It has become so bad that we half expected a semi-nude girl to jump out and start twerking in the middle of the church in Chinko Ekun’s Able God!
Take a cue from the King of Pop
Besides, dear musicians, Michael Jackson did not inspire MTV to rename the Video Vanguard Awards after him by sticking a bunch of nearly naked, hot girls in his video for Thriller and calling it a day.
If you are not Timaya and Solidstar literally singing about bum-bums in their Silicon Bum-Bum video, you should tone it down with the naked chicks.
Also, parents are too busy chasing money to monitor everything their children are watching. So you owe it to our society to save the little ones from these visual assaults on their innocence.
You don’t really want the corruption of their pure minds on your conscience, do you?
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