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Akinmade T. Akande

Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Authenticity in Nigeria Hip hop

Authenticity which has been referred to by many expressions (e.g., Keeping it, stick to what you know, do not sell out, do not pander, do am Niger style) in the hip hop (HH) literature is the mantra of HH. While HH is global in that it is found in almost every country (Krims 2000), Nigerian hip hop (NHH) is unique in several respects. Its uniqueness is attested to by features which are characteristic of global hip hop as well as those that are peculiar to Nigeria. The major question that the study seeks to address is: how is authenticity addressed in NHH? The data for the study are selected NHH songs downloaded from websites like www.niglyrics.com and www.nigerianlyrics.net and interviews with them. The selected songs were based on availability of the songs on the websites as well as the ethnolinguistic consideration of the artists. This means that the data represent at least the major three linguistic groups in Nigeria. The theoretical framework is drawn mainly from Pennycook’s (2007) Performativity and Transgressive Theories. The study shows that NHH artists express authenticity through their accent, through engagements with local issues, through idioms and slang  and proverbs peculiar to Nigeria, indigenized English syntax and codeswitching. 

 
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