Samuel Adejube | University of Ibadan (original) (raw)
Papers by Samuel Adejube
EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 2022
The agency of music to effectively convey ideas in movies and articulate visual-emotional experie... more The agency of music to effectively convey ideas in movies and articulate visual-emotional experience of the audience during mise-en-scene has long been established. Existing studies have focused more on the elements that characterize film as a visual experience, than on the diegetic (foreground) and non-diegetic (background) music, especially along their aural aesthetic lines. This article, therefore, investigated the aesthetic connections between traditional and performative significations of music in selected movies of Túndé Kèlání, one of Nigeria’s foremost cinematographers. Using a qualitative (videographic) research design, three movies, Ti Oluwa N’ile, Saworo Ide and K’oseegbe, were purposively selected, based on their unique aesthetic traits and distinct cultural identity quality, for content analysis. A close reading of the musical and textual data was done. Findings revealed that cultural themes in the movies, bordering on entertainment, rituals, politics, philosophy, ...
Journal of Christian Musicology, 2020
Speaking in tongues also known as glossolalia is the backbone of Pentecostalism. While several au... more Speaking in tongues also known as glossolalia is the backbone of Pentecostalism. While several authors have investigated into this spiritual phenomenon from different perspectives, the singing aspect of this event has been sparsely considered. This article, therefore examined the vocal dynamics in the use of glossolalia by devotees in some Pentecostal churches in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. With the use of participant observation and in-depth interviews, data were gathered from three (3) selected Pentecostal churches, choir performances, and praise team leaders. Data and songs collected were subjected to content and musical analysis. Analysis of purposively selected song ministrations reveals that singing in tongues is a vital part of the praise and worship experience in the Pentecostal movement especially with so much spiritual ecstasy and this experience could either be used before a song as a prelude or in between a song as an interlude. As a prelude, singing in tongues takes a free form of music but as an interlude, it takes the musical form of the preceding song. Singing in tongues could also be used as an improvisational technique by a praise leader who forgets the lyrics to a vocal phrase in a song. This article, thereby, concludes that, singing in tongues just as other features of the Charismatic movements, should also be counted as a germane characteristic trait of the contemporary Nigerian Pentecostalism.
Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol. 13, 2019
From euphemism to dysphemism, the Nigerian popular music industry has enjoyed the patronage of th... more From euphemism to dysphemism, the Nigerian popular music industry has enjoyed the patronage of the masses aided by the various virtual communities in the propagation of its message of eroticism. Unlike many Nigerian popular music artistes who are aggressive in their erotica performances, Saint Janet is a creative music artiste whose adoption of insidious eroticism knows no bound. With the use of ethnographic techniques (key-informant interview and participant-observation), this article discusses the insidious eroticism used in Saint Janet's music. The paper argues that the Christian religious background of the artiste and the need to fulfil her daily needs have been the factors responsible for her insidious creativity. Socio-cultural themes such as didactic, religious, therapeutic, entertainment are part of her techniques in entrapping her audience in her web of eroticism. Subtly, both the young and old are lured into her erotica performances. The paper also argues that parody has been her major compositional technique with emphasis on the reconstruction of several Juju-gospel music.
KUJUA: JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN STUDENTS’S ASSOCIATION, IBADAN , 2020
This article examines the bipartite musical movement of Saint Janet. It discusses how in the ques... more This article examines the bipartite musical movement of Saint Janet. It discusses how in the quest for a name and identity, Saint Janet, a Nigerian female pseudo-juju-gospel music practitioner budges from gospel music performances to what seems to be profaned among the same gospel music audience. This article hinged on the Maslow's hierarchy of needs' theory in discussing her quest for fame, financial gratification, and identity, among others. With the use of ethnographic techniques (key-informant interview and participant-observation), this article examines the driving force behind such bipartite development. This paper also argued that just like the dynamic nature of culture, music and musicians alike are prone to changes as the quotidian relevance of a system is to find its use in the day to day activities.
Books by Samuel Adejube
The contact of African musicians with their foreign counterpart has one way or the other influenc... more The contact of African musicians with their foreign counterpart has one way or the other influenced their musical style and genres. Nigeria, a prominent country in Africa seems to have taken an overdose of foreign culture which has indirectly and directly affected the modus operandi of the country’s musical composition and performance by the artistes. The syncretism and hybridity of some of these musicians in adopting various foreign and indigenous musical styles and idioms bring about difficulty in placing such music to a specific genre or musical style. Lagbaja and Beautiful Nubia happen to fall under such categories and these two are the foci of this paper. Lagbaja christened Bisade Ologunde and his mask identity are driven by his philosophy. The name Lagbaja and the mask used depict and reflect the anonymity or facelessness of the so called ‘common or voiceless man’ in the society. His interaction with the late Fela Kuti music called afro-beat and highlife was said to have produced Africano which is peculiar to him (Lagbaja). Hitherto, the addition of other genres like salsa, calypso, makes it challenging in identifying such genre. Beautiful Nubia on the other hand was born into the Yoruba rich culture of oral poetry, theatre, music and folklores which has greatly influenced his music. The experiences and exposures of Beautiful Nubia right from childhood made this music sophisticated and quite unease to pin him down to a specific musical genre. Folk and Root, a musical genre peculiar to Beautiful Nubia could simply be seen as a nomenclature and really not a musical genre. To create a musical identity, one has to overlook the aspect of musical style into the themes surrounding such artiste and his/her compositions.
Keywords: Identity, Challenges, Lagbaja, Beautiful Nubia, Africano, Folk & Root
EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 2022
The agency of music to effectively convey ideas in movies and articulate visual-emotional experie... more The agency of music to effectively convey ideas in movies and articulate visual-emotional experience of the audience during mise-en-scene has long been established. Existing studies have focused more on the elements that characterize film as a visual experience, than on the diegetic (foreground) and non-diegetic (background) music, especially along their aural aesthetic lines. This article, therefore, investigated the aesthetic connections between traditional and performative significations of music in selected movies of Túndé Kèlání, one of Nigeria’s foremost cinematographers. Using a qualitative (videographic) research design, three movies, Ti Oluwa N’ile, Saworo Ide and K’oseegbe, were purposively selected, based on their unique aesthetic traits and distinct cultural identity quality, for content analysis. A close reading of the musical and textual data was done. Findings revealed that cultural themes in the movies, bordering on entertainment, rituals, politics, philosophy, ...
Journal of Christian Musicology, 2020
Speaking in tongues also known as glossolalia is the backbone of Pentecostalism. While several au... more Speaking in tongues also known as glossolalia is the backbone of Pentecostalism. While several authors have investigated into this spiritual phenomenon from different perspectives, the singing aspect of this event has been sparsely considered. This article, therefore examined the vocal dynamics in the use of glossolalia by devotees in some Pentecostal churches in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. With the use of participant observation and in-depth interviews, data were gathered from three (3) selected Pentecostal churches, choir performances, and praise team leaders. Data and songs collected were subjected to content and musical analysis. Analysis of purposively selected song ministrations reveals that singing in tongues is a vital part of the praise and worship experience in the Pentecostal movement especially with so much spiritual ecstasy and this experience could either be used before a song as a prelude or in between a song as an interlude. As a prelude, singing in tongues takes a free form of music but as an interlude, it takes the musical form of the preceding song. Singing in tongues could also be used as an improvisational technique by a praise leader who forgets the lyrics to a vocal phrase in a song. This article, thereby, concludes that, singing in tongues just as other features of the Charismatic movements, should also be counted as a germane characteristic trait of the contemporary Nigerian Pentecostalism.
Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol. 13, 2019
From euphemism to dysphemism, the Nigerian popular music industry has enjoyed the patronage of th... more From euphemism to dysphemism, the Nigerian popular music industry has enjoyed the patronage of the masses aided by the various virtual communities in the propagation of its message of eroticism. Unlike many Nigerian popular music artistes who are aggressive in their erotica performances, Saint Janet is a creative music artiste whose adoption of insidious eroticism knows no bound. With the use of ethnographic techniques (key-informant interview and participant-observation), this article discusses the insidious eroticism used in Saint Janet's music. The paper argues that the Christian religious background of the artiste and the need to fulfil her daily needs have been the factors responsible for her insidious creativity. Socio-cultural themes such as didactic, religious, therapeutic, entertainment are part of her techniques in entrapping her audience in her web of eroticism. Subtly, both the young and old are lured into her erotica performances. The paper also argues that parody has been her major compositional technique with emphasis on the reconstruction of several Juju-gospel music.
KUJUA: JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN STUDENTS’S ASSOCIATION, IBADAN , 2020
This article examines the bipartite musical movement of Saint Janet. It discusses how in the ques... more This article examines the bipartite musical movement of Saint Janet. It discusses how in the quest for a name and identity, Saint Janet, a Nigerian female pseudo-juju-gospel music practitioner budges from gospel music performances to what seems to be profaned among the same gospel music audience. This article hinged on the Maslow's hierarchy of needs' theory in discussing her quest for fame, financial gratification, and identity, among others. With the use of ethnographic techniques (key-informant interview and participant-observation), this article examines the driving force behind such bipartite development. This paper also argued that just like the dynamic nature of culture, music and musicians alike are prone to changes as the quotidian relevance of a system is to find its use in the day to day activities.
The contact of African musicians with their foreign counterpart has one way or the other influenc... more The contact of African musicians with their foreign counterpart has one way or the other influenced their musical style and genres. Nigeria, a prominent country in Africa seems to have taken an overdose of foreign culture which has indirectly and directly affected the modus operandi of the country’s musical composition and performance by the artistes. The syncretism and hybridity of some of these musicians in adopting various foreign and indigenous musical styles and idioms bring about difficulty in placing such music to a specific genre or musical style. Lagbaja and Beautiful Nubia happen to fall under such categories and these two are the foci of this paper. Lagbaja christened Bisade Ologunde and his mask identity are driven by his philosophy. The name Lagbaja and the mask used depict and reflect the anonymity or facelessness of the so called ‘common or voiceless man’ in the society. His interaction with the late Fela Kuti music called afro-beat and highlife was said to have produced Africano which is peculiar to him (Lagbaja). Hitherto, the addition of other genres like salsa, calypso, makes it challenging in identifying such genre. Beautiful Nubia on the other hand was born into the Yoruba rich culture of oral poetry, theatre, music and folklores which has greatly influenced his music. The experiences and exposures of Beautiful Nubia right from childhood made this music sophisticated and quite unease to pin him down to a specific musical genre. Folk and Root, a musical genre peculiar to Beautiful Nubia could simply be seen as a nomenclature and really not a musical genre. To create a musical identity, one has to overlook the aspect of musical style into the themes surrounding such artiste and his/her compositions.
Keywords: Identity, Challenges, Lagbaja, Beautiful Nubia, Africano, Folk & Root