Ethnic-Based Popular Music In Ekiti: A Study Of Elemure Ogunyemi’s Ere Ibile

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.

Keywords

• ekiti
• ekiti popular music
• popular music
• elemure ogunyemi
• ethnic identity theory
• indigenous music
• traditional music
• cultural pluralism