By Edwin Mamman

The fuckening is an event or a series of events that happen to you and leave you thinking, “What the fuck!?”. Where I’m from, you don’t have to do much to catch a bad day. It will fall on you like the Money and Banana that Davido promised Chioma[1].

You can’t be apolitical where I’m from, and to be political is to stand up to injustices, corruption, and neglect of socio-economic development. Our musicians have often lent their voices to this cause. A few have been dubbed ‘protest musicians’; Fela Kuti, Eedris Abdulkareem, African China, Asa, and most notably Falz in recent times[2]. Others dabble in and out of it from time to time. Not that it does much by way of bringing about the needed change, but it reflects the minds of countless others whose voices cannot be heard, and in some cases, it riles up the politicians enough to make the effort worthwhile. That counts for something here. 

When Eedris Abdulkareem sang ‘Nigeria Jaga Jaga’, it sparked a decade-long feud between the artist and the president at the time, Olusegun Obasanjo[3]. But his song wasn’t far from the truth. When four years later M.I Abaga sang ‘Money’, the county’s dollar to naira exchange rate was 117 naira. Fuel price was at 75 naira per liter. The country wasn’t ravaged by the wave of kidnapping yet until later in 2009. Yet things have only gotten worse. A dollar today is about 776 naira, fuel sells for 650 naira per litre, kidnapping and extremist terrorism have only gotten worse. On his recent protest song, ‘Plan B’ M.I Abaga returned in 2023 to reflect on those same issues, and touch on the waves of migration out of the country by teeming youths in search of better opportunities and living conditions[4]. For a country that for so long has prided itself on being the giant of Africa, 133 million of its citizens still live below the poverty line. Yet, they are strong, resilient people, that much was alluded to when Yemi Alade sang in  CIA: “Even if you bring fire, even if you bring smoke, anything wey you give us we go chop and we go still hope”. They smile even on the brink of tears. That was the attitude they carried in the aftermath of the Lekki shooting[5], when soldiers rained live bullets on peaceful protesters demanding police reforms amongst other things. 

Music continues to shape the collective consciousness of my people. Music binds us. It alters moods and speaks to us, and sometimes, it is the only healing for our aching hearts. 

The songs on this ‘Surviving the Fuckening Mixtape’ are carefully curated for listening on a bad day, or just about any day when things don’t seem to be going right. Some selected lyrics provide wisdom for navigating a difficult day, or a difficult life generally. Like on ‘Jeun To Da’ where Reekado sings “My brother, my sister, you no lazy if you tire”. It is an admonition to take regular breaks from your daily grind to rest and care for yourself. It might as well be a direct jab at the former president, Muhammadu Buhari who on the 18th of April, 2018, flagged the Nigerian youths as lazy during a panel appearance at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London[6]. On ‘Koroba’ (Koroba means bucket in Yoruba language), Ms. Tiwa Savage admonishes you to “carry your bucket”, in other words, bear your cross and mind your business. There’s no better way to protect your peace in this day and age than to master the art of minding one’s business. ‘You Go Know’ by Ajebo Hustlers is a caution to always use your wits, and not let others make a fool of you or your situation. ‘Hallelujah’ bears a more positive message of hope, it is a celebratory song, about life and the joys and nuances of living. ‘Dan Gata (Royalty)’ also echoes a message of hope and healing reassuring us that this world is only a temporary dwelling, and up in heaven there are bigger and better things waiting for you.

And of course, a survival mixtape won’t be complete without a little fight song or ‘gangsta’ rap, so in it you’d also find the 2007 rap song ‘Art of War’ by SJW. 

REFERENCES 

[1] Punocracy. Understanding the Fuckening and How to Survive in Four Easy Steps by Edwin Mamman

[2] Business Day. Falz the Rise of a Protest Musician by Frank Eleanya

[3] PM News. Flashback: How Obasanjo, Eedris Fought Over ‘Nigeria Jaga Jaga’ Song by Kazeem Ugbodaga

[4] Not Just OK. M.I. Abaga Drops Politically Conscious Single ‘Plan B’ by Peter Okhide

[5] Wikipedia, 2020 Lekki Shooting

[6] Premium Times. Buhari Criticises Nigerian Youth as Lazy, Uneducated by Samuel Ogundipe

Edwin Mamman is a sonographer, and writer. He has work published on KAFART’s The Revue, African Writers Space and forthcoming elsewhere. He blogs on WordPress under the pseudonym LareWrites, and sometimes contributes to Life’s Essentials blogspot on WordPress.

Edwin writes from Kaduna, Nigeria. When he’s not working, reading and writing, he enjoys movies, music, and a walk in nature. He tweets @edwinmamman.

Photo by Muhammad-taha Ibrahim on Pexels