#5 Ethnic-Based Popular Music In Ekiti: A Study Of Elemure Ogunyemi’s Ere Ibile
UDC: 316.7:784.4(669)
COBISS.SR-ID 139145993 CIP - 4
Received: Dec 23, 2023
Reviewed: Jan 10, 2024
Accepted: Jan 12, 2024
#5 Ethnic-Based Popular Music In Ekiti: A Study Of Elemure Ogunyemi’s Ere Ibile
Citation: Falana, O. Gbenga and Olusegun Stephen Titus. 2024. "Ethnic-Based Popular Music In Ekiti: A Study Of Elemure Ogunyemi’s Ere Ibile." Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance 9:5
Abstract
Popular music in Nigeria has risen and gained more attention among the people because of its potency to accentuate the culture and tradition of the people, and still be relevant to trend and current musical development across the nation. Enough scholars have studied popular music in Nigeria, but not much scholarly work has been done to investigate ethnic-based popular music among the Ekiti, southwestern Nigeria. Using the ethnic identity theory, this paper engages the oral interview, observation, and discography method. To this effect, the paper set out to bring to limelight the impact of traditional music in the development of an ethnic-based popular music among the Ekiti. It is hoped that this work, being the first extensive study on ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti, will serve as a reference point for further studies on Elemure Ogunremi’s music, and ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti, in terms of what influences it, its socio-cultural effects, and its characteristics.
ekiti, ekiti popular music, popular music, elemure ogunyemi, ethnic identity theory, indigenous music, traditional music, cultural pluralism
Introduction
Despite substantial and detailed scholarly work done on popular music in Nigerian, little or no specific study has been carried out to examine Ekiti popular music and their musicians to show what Ekiti popular music is, bringing to limelight the influence of the indigenous or traditional music on Ekiti popular music. This study intends to fill the gap. It is important to note that this study covers ethnic-based popular music. This involves musicians living and practicing their music in urban areas, towns and villages that cover their ethnic groups, using their indigenous language or dialect, in this case in a Pan-Ekiti community. The author describes ethnic-based popular music of Ekiti in line with the explanation of Emielu (2013), as a neo-traditional music of the people.
This paper is neither intended to establish a new theory or model per-se regarding discussions of popular music in Nigeria, nor to totally downplay the role of previous intellectual insights and established studies on popular music, but to constructively open up a series of questions and issues related to the subject of discussion, and to inform further studies and debate on what ethnic-based popular music is, especially as related to Ekiti.
In addition, this work will serve as a research material for scholars who have shown interest in musical practices among the Ekiti people. It is also expected that this work brings more recognition and extensive study to the musical works of prominent Ekiti popular music musicians, especially those of Elemure Ogunyemi. Likewise, it will serve as a research material for scholars who have shown interest in Ekiti popular music, and also in the musical life of Elemure Ogunyemi.
Literature review
Previous studies have identified popular music in general (and also specific to Nigeria), as a prominent music genre that thrives among the people, from its inception. Omojola (2006), Emeielu (2013, 2011), and Adedeji (2010) contributed intellectually to scholarly and relevant discussions on popular music in Nigeria. Also, Stephen (1976) used the term “popular music”, as a recreational and entertainment style of music practiced and enjoyed by most people in a particular society. It will be a biased generalization to limit the description and understanding of popular music among the Yoruba people to common elements derived from western musical culture. Therefore, germane to this study is the assertion of Emielu (2013) that "What is today known as Nigerian popular music is an aggregation of ethnic and regional styles that reflect the country’s cultural pluralism.
Theoretical Framework
This paper is located within the ethnic identity theory, of which its relationship with music is considered, as used by Emielu (2013), as he corroborates David Maybury-Lewis (1996) assertion, who said:
Music is ambiguous; it unites all of humankind because there are no people who do not make music, yet it also separates people, for it is so often an important way of defining the identity of groups and distinguishing them from others. (Maybury-Lewis, op.cit., 1)
Ethnic identity theory emphasizes one’s level of commitment to his or her home society. This theory is relevant to this study, as it considers the role of traditional music of the Ekiti people in the formation of the popular music that is prominent across the region today.
Methodology
In order to effectively deal with the purpose of this work, the researcher will adopt observation, discography and analytical methods of research. Also, an oral interview method will be adopted to obtain data from musicians, band members and lovers of ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti.
Brief history of Ekiti
Ekiti is a sub-group of the Yoruba people living in the Southwestern part of Nigeria (see Picture 1). Their dialect distinguishes them from other Yoruba people (Oyo, Egba, Ondo, Ijebu, Owo) living in the Southwestern region of Nigeria (Abiodun 2017). The modern Ekiti state (which consists of 16 local governments) was formed from part of Ondo in 1996. Prior to this, it was part of the Ondo Province in Western Region of Nigeria. While the non-Ekiti part of the region largely dominated geographically, Akure which was then regarded as an Ekiti town, was the headquarters of Ondo province (Cohen 1998).
Picture 1. Olosunta Hill, Ikere-Ekiti. Source: authors
The Ekiti, whose ancestors migrated from Ile-Ife, has formed one of the largest ethnic groups in Yorubaland. Ekitis are culturally homogeneous, and they speak a dialect of Yoruba language, known as Ekiti. The homogeneous nature of Ekiti confers on the state some uniqueness among the states of the federation. Although slight differences are noticeable in the Ekiti dialect of the Yoruba language spoken by the people, which is informed and influenced by their spatial locations, especially the border communities to other states.
A noticeable part of the uniqueness of the Ekiti is that ‘wherever is your own part of the state, you will understand well when the other Ekiti man/woman speaks, in spite of the dialectal variations’. In addition, all towns in Ekiti State take a common suffix, "Ekiti," after their names. For example, Ado-Ekiti, Ikere-Ekiti, Ilawe-Ekiti, Oye-Ekiti, etc.
Elemure Ogunyemi
Picture 2. Late (Chief) Peter Ogunyemi (Elemure Ogunyemi). Source: authors
Late (Chief) Peter Ogunyemi (see Picture 2), popularly known as Elemure Ogunyemi (1944 - 2014) was an Ekiti-based musician with origins and roots in Emure-Ekiti, under Ise-Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State. He was an ethnic-based popular musician, who sang in his Ekiti dialect, as even reflected in the title of one of his albums, ‘Elemure lo ni ere ibile’ (Elemure owns indigineous music). He was widely traveled within and outside the country, and was the choice musician at many ceremonial events within Ekiti, and also neighbouring Yoruba communities in Nigeria. Chief Peter Ogunyemi mentored other musicians who have promoted the Ekiti dialect and popularised the Ekiti music genre.
The Ekiti people, being one of the largest historical subgroups of the larger Yoruba people of West Africa, have gained recognition both locally and internationally, cutting also across their music. Hence, past scholars (though few) have written extensively on Ekiti music. Abiodun (op. cit., and 2019), wrote on Apiiri, an Ekiti-based traditional vocal music with a specific instrumental accompaniment. Also, Omojola (2008) wrote on a particular kind of traditional music among King Wives in Emure Ekiti. This research tends to look into the reformed and modernized traditional music of the people, which has given birth to an ethnic-based popular music form, now referred to as ‘ere ibile’.
Discussion
The homogeneous nature of Ekiti confers on the state some uniqueness among the states of the federation, part of which also reflect in their music. As with other indigenous societies in Africa, the Ekiti people have a variety of indigenous musical forms deployed in various contexts, and popular musicians across its region are known for performing and recording indigenous music in popular music style. Prominent musicians in Ekiti state include Late (Chief) Elemure Ogunyemi, King Femi Ariyo, Late Dele Matina, Ologun Sima, to mention a few.
The similarities in language and cultural practices across Ekiti state among the people, is what the popular music musicians in the state take to their advantage to carve a niche of ethno-popular music, what can be tagged as a ‘neo-traditional musical style’, irrespective of the town or villages within the Ekiti region. This has brought about cross-practices of musical touring and performances of musicians within the region, with no language or geographical boundaries to their music.
Elemure Ogunyemi in one of his songs, titled Ekiti yeye (Example 1), attests to the unity in diversity among the Ekiti. In song 1 below, he sang that ‘though Ekiti is large geographically, and in population (with about 160 villages and 16 local governments), unity is achievable in their oneness, linguistically and culturally’.
Ekiti yeye o Ekiti Yeye
In jia parapo ka s’okan
Ekiti yeye
[Ekiti is wide! Ekiti is wide!
Let’s come together as one
Ekiti is wide]
Example 1. Ekiti yeye
The Root of Ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti
Popular music in Nigeria is a summary of musical styles that are peculiar to ethnic groups and regions across the country, as different from the national geopolitical zoning (Emielu op.cit.). Popular music cannot be [effectively] defined using the traditional method of musicology, as derived by the Western musical elements such as scale, melody, harmony and rhythm, which are built on a European musicology (Tagg 1982, 4). The need for an African theory of popular music is further justified by Omojola (2006, 1-5), that a dichotomy exists between Western and African perspectives of popular music. To Agawu (2003), popular music represents an exceedingly dynamic, hybridized music that defies fixed categorization.
Nigeria is made up of many communities or societies with different cultural backgrounds, languages, and dialects, and each of them creates its own music based on its environment, to serve the needs and aspirations of the people in that community.
The Ekiti speaks a common language across the state, which allows any of their musicians originating from any town or village in Ekiti to ply across the whole land, with his music being acceptable to all. The Ekiti have various traditional forms of music, of which some of them are ethnic based, others share similarities with other Yoruba communities. For instance, the Ijesha people, a subgroup of the Yorubas of Southwestern Nigeria, have similarities in language and musical elements shared with the Ekiti. To this regard, the structure of music among the indigenous people of Ekiti is based on the tonal structure of their language. The tonality of the language of the Ekiti is unique to them, only like very few neighboring communities like Ijesha, Ife, to mention a few.
Therefore, the traditional music of the Ekiti from which their popular music is derived is rich in culture and tradition. To buttress this, Abiodun (2019) also opined that ‘Music practiced in Ekiti belongs to the “musico-stylistic pattern” of Yoruba music. He further said that Ekiti music on stylistic ground could be grouped along the Yoruba traditional and neo-traditional popular music.
Influence of traditional music on ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti
According to Omojola (2006), the development of modern popular music in Nigeria does not take the conventional methods of cultural change and transformation as assumed in the works of early Western anthropologists, which say that development in societies moves from that which is ‘primitive’ to ‘modern’, referring to John Collins’s (2000, 5) assertion. Rather, Omojola opined that while such cultural changes may be applicable to the Western societies, it could not be true for the colonial and post-colonial Africans. However, both the imported Western culture and the indigenous African customs have convoluted together to result in a new form with the elements of both cultures. This is similar to what the ethnic-based popular music of Ekiti is. He further claimed that “any discussion of Nigerian popular music must be located within its relevant social and cultural environment”, further exploring the dialectical relationships between the music and the society to which it has been practiced.
One of the Ekiti-based musicians and instrumentalists, who have been interviewed in the course of this research, and who at one time or the other also played traditional music, concluded that this contemporary or modern form of traditional music (referring to the ethnic-based popular music of Ekiti), to them, represents a new, modernized and better way of doing that which was considered old. Femi Olootu, a musician in Ekiti state, who was a band member of Late (Chief) Peter Ogunyemi (Elemure), and has also performed on stage several times as an instrumentalist under Late (Chief) Dele Matina, saw this current style of music that has developed over time in Ekiti as a developed version of existing traditional music forms (Interview, 2nd of May, 2021). Some of the traditional music forms regarded as the ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti nowadays are Apiiri, Alele, Alakutu (a kind of group song), Alamo (praise chant), Ere Ode, Adamo, to mention but a few. Among them, the most common, which still very much reflects in their popular music today, is Apiiri. According to Abiodun (2019), who did an extensive study on Apiiri music, Apiiri is a vocal music with instrumental accompaniment. The name is derived from one of the musical instruments called Pipiri (or Okiiri).
Making reference to Peter Ogunyemi’s (Elemure) song, titled Lekeleke(Example 2), Femi Olootu, one of the research informants for this paper, also mentions that Elemure used a traditional music form called orin ode (hunters’ song or chant) in his music. This reflects in the intonation and melodic contour of the song, and also the lyrical content. Song 2 below shows the lyrics of the music:
Lekeleke mo ba lori igi o
Eye oko in mo terbia fun o
Ogunyemi daraba, o d’igi o e
[Cattle egret [bird] peach on the tree
All birds in the wood should bow
Ogunyemi has become large, as a tree]
Elemure later reflected in the song lyrics that dictate languages that are commonly used among the hunters, with the use of animal characters to pass his messages, and quoting proverbs that are common among hunters. Below are some of the texts and their meaning:
Adaba pede bi eni pe eyele o gbo
Eyele gbogbo, titiri l’on tiri
[The dove is calling, thinking pigeon didn’t understand
The pigeon understood, he’s just pretending as if he didn’t.]
The rhythmic pattern used in this song (Lekeleke), and other similar songs adapted from ere ode (hunters’ song) to the new popular music styles in Ekiti, is represented below:
Example 2. Lekeleke
One of the people interviewed in the course of this research, Osaloni Ojo, an upcoming musician and Okiiri drummer in Ado Ekiti reveals that sometimes some of these Ekiti popular music musicians inter-switch indigenous music with the likes of Juju, Fuji, and other Yoruba popular music styles, apart from that which has its root in their indigenous musical tradition (Interview, 15th of May, 2021). He further said:
Elemure Ogunyemi, Dele Matina, and others, did deep research into the traditional music of the people, modernized it in terms of the rhythms, the use of traditional songs, and introduction of modern or borrowed musical instruments, which gave birth to a version of ethnic-based popular music that is much acceptable among the people of Ekiti.
He mentioned the fact that Elemure used the traditional song form called orin awo (cult music). Below is an text of a song by Elemure titled Ese Ure from his album Seranko Seniyan:
Call: Elese mu tele o
Response: Ese ure
Call: Ma yun wa, ma yun gungun
Response: Ese ure
Call: Elese mu tele o
Response: Ese ure
[Call: Owner of leg, step on the ground
Response: Blessed leg
Call: I will go here, I will go there
Response: Blessed leg
Call: Owner of leg, step on the ground
Response: Blessed leg]
Some features of Nigerian popular music as seen in Elemure’s music
Eulogizing while performing is also an important aspect of Nigerian popular music genres, especially as seen in Juju music, which developed from Lagos Island, Lagos (Bamidele 2016). They commission songs in honour of successful business people, social clubs. It is important to note that this is also a prominent feature in ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti, especially in Elemure Ogunyemi’s musical performances. Also in Nigeria, popular musicians make money largely from patronage by their own people, in the form of ‘spraying money’ in public performances, direct selling of their recordings to community members, as well as freewill donations, and material gifts from patrons (Emielu 2013).
Today, though, there are other Juju and Fuji musicians that still stage musical performances in few night clubs, hotels, and some ceremonial occasions, especially as seen in the capital of the region, that is Ado-Ekiti, the ethnic-based popular music of Ekiti, usually called ere ibile, remains the major music for entertainment, recreation and celebration among the Ekiti.
Results
There exist different kinds of traditional music in Ekiti land, of which their origins could be traced to different towns and villages that make up Ekiti. These are what their musicians adapted and modernized to form the ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti, which they call ‘ere ibile’, translated as ‘traditional music or indigenous’. The music is called ere ibile because it’s an adaptation of traditional music of the people, which has been modernized and performed by enlightened musicians that are indigenous of Ekiti, or those who have stayed longer in the land to understand the language and culture of the people. It is also noted that the ethnic-based popular music in Ekiti still makes use of some traditional musical instruments, like sekere (guords), pagege (metal gong) which is also called agogo in Yoruba land, and a traditional musical instrument called Okiiri, which was used for apiiri music in pre-modern times.
Although there is a recent geo-political zoning in Nigeria, as opposed to the former four regions of the “1963-1967” (Northern region, Western region, Mid-western region, and Eastern region), what was regarded as ethnic group then (Yoruba, Hausa, and Ibo), has now gone beyond what it used to be. What we summarized to be an ethnic group back then were actually collections and embodiments of several ethnic groups which, though similar in practices and culture, were diverse in language. For instance, the Ekiti are a very different people linguistically from the Awori, though they both belong to the Southwestern Nigeria, and are both grouped under their ‘ethnic group’ called Yoruba. Hence, the music of the Ekiti, and the Awori, will seldom be properly captured under a single umbrella of Yoruba popular music. It is therefore important to look at popular music among the Yorubas with utmost regard to ethnic identification, that is, a music that is specifically relevant to the people, and that bears their language for proper internalization, which is referred to in this paper as ethnic-based popular music.
Conclusion
This study concludes that the role of Ekiti traditional musical forms cannot be relegated to the now ethnic-based popular music of Ekiti, which they call ere ibile. Modernization of traditional music, with the mixture of both indigenous and imported musical instruments, is what gave birth to the ethnic-based popular music among the Ekiti today. In other words, we cannot but trace popular music of the Ekiti to their different traditional musical forms that existed before modernization came into the scene. It is therefore opined that what the Ekiti people call ere ibile now, as seen in the music of Elemure Ogunyemi, is actually an ethnic-based popular music.
References
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Discography
- Late (Chief) Sunday Ogunyemi (Elemure). “Ese ure”. Album: Seranko Seniyan. Orolu records, Lagos.
- Late (Chief) Sunday Ogunyemi (Elemure). “Lekeleke ba Lori igi”. Album: Elemure Loni Ere Ibile. Supreme record, Akure.
Interviews
- Chief Femi Olootu, a drummer, musician and former band member to Elemure Ogunyemi Band, and former Band member to Dele Matina (May 2, 2021).
- Mr Sunday Adeyemi, an upcoming ethnic-based popular musician in Ekiti. (May 15, 2021)
- Mr Osaloni Ojo, a drummer and upcoming ethnic-based popular musician in Ekiti. (May 17, 2021)
