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Who is a musician? Is one of those questions that appear too easy to even need to be asked until they are asked. And do not feel bad if you cannot come up with a clear definition, even the world’s elite dictionaries could hardly agree on one. Cambridge dictionary suggests a definition of “a person who is skilled in playing music, usually as a job”, effectively eliminating anyone else involved in the music making process before it gets to the stage of rendition. Merriam Webster’s is more gracious in incorporating music conductors and composers into its definition which is also backed by the Oxford Learners dictionary.
Critical to note in this definition is the use of the inclusive ‘or’ over the more limiting ‘and’. This throws open the entry requirement to being a musician to anyone who is either a performer or a composer of music. More importantly, it affirms that one person does not need to be both. And this reflects in the popular use of more specific titles in music—singer and songwriter—two different tags that need not necessarily be held by the same person. Nigeria, however, has a music culture that expects a singer to do both, so that having another creative write a song is seen by many as a transfer of your responsibilities and a sore spot for rival ‘stans’ to troll with.
The outside world has more or less come to terms with the reality that a singer will not always be able to write their own songs, and they welcome the sharing of credits as a trade-off to getting better music. With a host of artistes needing the help of other artistes to write mega hits for them, no fans of any one artiste could take the high ground and pontificate on how songs should always be written by the singer. There are creatives who have wholly made a career of this. Max Martin, for example, is mostly hailed as a genius as more and more of his writing is found in America’s biggest hits. And as he abhors the fame and attention that comes with being a performing artiste, he is perfectly content with his role in the shadows. The singers are happy to perform these songs for him, and the fans get to listen to quality music. Everybody wins.
But being the conservative country it is, the winds of change do take their time in arriving here. Nigeria has not reached this level of widespread songwriting, so the attendant shame of hiring songwriters persists. And the artistes who are more open to change—or more cynically, those who most need songwriters to compensate for their writing inability—are in the eye of the target on this issue. Davido’s “If” was written by Tekno, “Fall” cowritten by Kiddominant, and he’s shared writing credits with Runtown for “Aye”, and with Peruzzi, Teni, Adekunle Gold and others for a few other songs. For these, he’s been the butt of jokes bordering on an inability to write songs for himself.
Many still do not realise the division of labour that goes on in music studios, and more interestingly, they do not consider the possibility that many of their fave artistes, those who do not openly consult songwriters, may engage in this practice below the prying eyes of social media. Davido, pushed to the wall by the wave of songwriting “allegations” that accompanied his public acknowledgement of Adekunle Gold, would retort with a simple, thought-provoking tweet – more or less accusing other artistes of employing songwriters without publicly crediting them.
This throws open an entirely new section of discourse, and it’s on how this suppression of songwriting by fans affects the writers themselves. If Davido’s claim holds true, and we suspect it does, then there are many unrecognised songwriters who have to go without getting due publicity and credit for their work, and will have to settle for financial rewards as the sole compensation for their efforts. As put by the Co-president of The NATIVE records, many great writers may be forced into performing songs themselves, an area they may not have the skill set or interest for.
And it is important to remember that it is not only an artiste’s rival ‘stans’ that will reject the use of songwriters. When Teni, the then breakout star of 2017 took to her Twitter account to reveal she was the pen behind “Like Dat”, Davido’s acclaimed track off ‘A Good Time’, the feedback was far from her expectations. There were positive comments, of course, but some of Davido’s own fans would turn on her, for they saw this as a slight on their idol, and perhaps a public showcase of his deficiencies. The artiste himself wasn’t forthcoming with praise after this revelation, as it was before his newfound public crediting of songwriters, so that the entire experience would leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
As time went on, however, Davido would learn to be more appreciative of his songwriters, and less touchy overall about the subject. Runtown, in an ask-and-answer session on Twitter, revealed himself to be the writer of “Aye”, six years after its release. Being well aware of Nigeria’s general disdain for songwriters, he made this announcement with a disclaimer, that there was “nothing wrong in using song writers”, and this helped soften the reactions somewhat from both Davido’s and rival fans, helping him avoid a repeat of Teni’s incident. These moves from both singers and songwriters—taking the lid off the inner workings of the music making process—are helpful in reversing the stigma surrounding the use of songwriters. It sets a precedent for other creatives, and makes it easier for songwriters to speak up and claim what is theirs.
Nigerian music fans will have to familiarise themselves with the concepts of musicians, singers and songwriters. The quicker everyone can come to terms with the delegation of different roles in music making, the better for everyone. If no one expects an artiste to produce their own songs, and mix and master as well, we should also learn that songwriting may not always come from the artiste themselves, and there is nothing wrong with that. In the meantime, songwriters continue to work in the background, crafting the hits to be enjoyed by blissfully unaware fans, while Davido and a few others continue to take a hit for having foresight and providing budding songwriters with an opportunity to live their dreams.
The post On Davido And Why Nigeria Needs To Be More Welcoming Of Songwriters appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
