Lagos (aka LasGidi or Gidi) is a city that never sleeps. From the endless lines of cars stuck in traffic jams, hawkers selling wares, the noisiness on the streets resulting from hooting buses and cursing bus drivers, to its hot and humid atmosphere, Lagos distinguishes itself from other cities in Nigeria.
Living in Lagos can be as stressful as it can be fun. But, the nightlife in Africa’s most populous city cannot be easily bested anywhere else. Scattered around the city, one can find garden bars sometimes featuring live performances by local bands, open-air restaurants, disco clubs, music centres such as the New Afrika Shrine. While most of the events in Lagos are homegrown, in the past few years, one can note an influx of Western-style type of events such as silent discos, fashion parties, adult entertainment clubs etc. Because of these characteristics, Lagos stands out as the entertainment centre of excellence for Nigeria and Africa.
It is also quite important to note the role Lagos has played over the years in the development of the careers of several young artists and why it is typically referred to as the city “where one can blow” (blow in this context means to make it). Artists like 2Baba (formerly TuFace), P-Square, MI, Ice Prince etc had to leave their home cities to move to Lagos and in a couple of years following their moves to Lagos, they became household names as well as internationally recognized artists.
In viceland’s new documentary titled Lagos with Wizkid, Ice Prince, there is an effort to discuss the music scene in Lagos. The documentary opens with a voiceover by Femi Kuti;
“Music is the profession of all professions, music inspires people, without music, there will be probably more wars. You are supposed to influence people spiritually but when you start to influence people materialistically, that becomes a problem for society.”
This is true as the music scene in Nigeria has changed from one that was once very political or spiritual, to one that centres around money and fame, which means very little interference by the government or authority. But now rather, there are clear collaborations between musicians and politicians during campaigns, especially in Lagos.
An interesting scene showed a glimpse of how disputes are settled on the streets of Lagos — where Burna Boy pays out cash to resolve an accident incident by a fellow rider. This also reinforces the point that the Nigerian economy is still very much cash-based. I have had a similar experience living in Lagos, where been armed with your bank card is not enough to survive the streets of Lagos, except in upstate parts of the city (considered to be Lagos Island). There exists the Lagos Mainland-Lagos Island dichotomy — where the popular opinion is that the Lagos Mainland is the less fancy of either but its brags that it produces the most talents in the music industry, arts, football etc.
There was also a focus on the daily struggles of artists (upcoming and popular) to finance their music careers especially with failing existing infrastructure and the epileptic power supply. As well as, touching on issues of piracy, non-existence or lack of payment of royalties. The economic recession and high unemployment rate in the country were also noted as factors motivating young Lagosians towards the music industry.
The big music breakout scenes for upcoming artists in Lagos such Ojuelegba, Shitta, Akoka, Surulere which are also home to some of Lagos’ worst slums were featured, except for Bariga (homestead for other popular artists like Olamide). An important sight in the documentary were the gated communities that provide residence for the upper and middle-class but was clearly still lacking good roads, adequate power supply & effective drainage system.
But the documentary was not particularly engaging for me based on its scope and its perception of the industry. The issue of limited scope may result from Lagos’s vast history and its constantly changing music industry. To put this in context, in the early 90’s, the music scene in Lagos used to lean more towards reggae and dancehall, then it shifted to R&B, then Rap, before finally settling into its current Afrobeats state in the early 2000’s. For that reason, I believe that the producers were only able to scratch the surface around the real history of the music and arts industry in Lagos. An insightful effort would have looked further past the era of the likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti as attempted by a British-Nigerian filmmaker Remi Vaughan-Richards in a documentary called Faaji Agba released in 2015.
Ultimately, Lasgidi continues to remain a music stronghold on the African continent that has transformed itself to achieve international recognition as the African hub for entertainment. Additionally, there is also clear evidence that the music scene will also continuously grow to reach new heights. The impact of this on the social setting in the city will have both pros and cons. However, residents in the city that never sleeps are optimistic about her future and the ability to have fun is a key factor.
