Alternative, not Alté

Rising Nigerian Artistes / amped illustration

Looking from the angle of the type of music that we listen to in this part of the world, we connect more with songs that just permit us to be carefree and have fun, and not project so much seriousness to the content that the music brings to us. So, we are famous for grooving to such songs, that range from Afrobeat, Folk music, regular high life, the occasional indigenous rap music and Of course, The very famous Pop music that we regard to as Pangolo music.

As the world of music and sound know it to be, that the music lovers in Nigeria just want to catch a vibe. The market for the music Superstars was largely filled with a somewhat simplistic content, that was vastly relatable with the consuming public. But things began to change from late around the mid 2000’s when the likes of Asa came into the music scene, with a distinctive type of music that was surprisingly appealing to another faction, of the consuming public which prompted the then unknown singer to ink a deal with Question Mark Records and drop a few albums with them. It seemed like the music lovers were somewhat switching up, to paying careful attention to the content that our recording musicians were cooking up for us to listen to. Asa really became a household name that was a break from the norm and became a case study for further songwriters and singers to take the risk to drop such distinctive records. This output sparked the emergence of more artistes into the Alternative music scene; the likes of Bez, GT the guitar man, and Black Magic just to name a few.

The Alternative genre of music, was something different from the regular Pop music we were familiar with. In simple terms, it was nothing about popping bottles and ass shaking by women. This genre of music could be expressed on various levels and had depth in its entire composition and delivery. It had quality and set a new standard for the type of Nigerian music that was urgently needed in the industry. Alternative music is simply the art of making intentional and intelligent music that brings the social consciousness to its listeners. The rise of the Alternative genre was on the rise and the regular suspects began to get notable mentions from its fellow African countries and even the world at large. Making Alternative music basically set the tone for an unknown Asa to be a household name around Europe, that she decided to pitch her music making tent, for making and writing music in France. Fast forward to the post 2010 era, saw the imminent rise in this genre of music and everyone became interested. We welcomed Boy Bands like L.O.S and DRB Lasgidi; which set up the path, to the making of another Alternative music king, BOJ. This new crop of musicians appealed more to the younger generation of music lovers. Amid this, was the duo of Show Dem Camp; who also infused Rap and Alternative music making, in carving a niche for themselves in making amazing records.

Now the Alternative Music Era seems like a long time ago, as the millennials & woke generation of song-composers have decided to give an entire new meaning to this genre of music and tag it as Altè; as opposed to Alternative. The philosophy of this type of music comes from the presence of over-doing the act of song writing, showmanship and performances by rendering ignorance to the entire purpose of this genre of music. There is an Altè click, that responds to the Altè set of fans who aren’t all that mainstream to compete at the highest of levels in the entire country. It ranges from the type of weird looking outfits and charm. To also the ridiculous hairstyles and way of life. The content of such songs has become to be a well thought out idea, that was poorly executed and could not be revived at any point in composition. This music spells out so much depression, binge drinking and the consequential ideology, of attempting to create false real-life stories from strange fantasies. A good song no matter how underwhelming it may seem, must have that jump that keeps the people going. But this music doesn’t have and does not cut it. With exception of a few ones Ofcourse.

We should give a whole meaning to Alte music and respect the platform, set forward by those before us and do better. By taking it from appealing to the SoundCloud listeners, and endeavor to be great and grow organically with the music making. And abandon the whole Altè scene and what it stands for. As such music could slow the music, that is being developed in this part of the world.