Most Nigerian hip hop artists use a combination of English and one or more local language(s) to write the lyrics of their songs. English is the official language in Nigeria, therefore the base language of most Nigerian hip hop songs is English, even if they introduce local expressions in the lyrics.
INTRODUCTION
Listeners who do not have the same cultural background as the artist tend to enjoy the mix of languages in the songs anyway. This work will examine the trend of code-switching Nigeria's indigenous language with English, with our focus on Nigerian hip-hop music.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Their choice of a vernacular can only be understood by those within the artist's cultural background. Code-switching in these songs not only makes the songs easily understandable to speakers of the languages involved, but also makes them more appealing as it connects to the cultural base of the listeners and places them in an identifiable network.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
HIP HOP CULTURE
Kevin Donovan; also known as African Bambaata, was also instrumental in the early development of hip hop. Hip hop can now be said to be a global phenomenon, although the sound and style differ from region to region.
HIP HOP IN NIGERIA
A three-piece group called 'The Remedies' emerged in 1997 with the smash hit 'Shakomo' and reignited the hip-hop fire in the Nigerian hip-hop world. In short, hip hop in Nigeria has been made 'Nigerian' because most Nigerian hip hop artists now code with one or more Nigerian languages while writing their lyrics.
CODE SWITCHING IN HIP HOP
Nigerian hip-hop artistes who code-switch, especially those who sing in Nigerian Pidgin English, do so in order to reach people in a common language, which should in no way create any form of barrier between either the artiste or the audience. Therefore, writing hip hop songs in Nigerian pidgin is a way to reach out to all Nigerians as a whole.
LIMITATATIONS
They sometimes write the solo of the song in a particular language and then write the chorus in another language. These sometimes occur when the song's chorus carries the song's theme.
CODE-SWITCHING
Metaphorical code-switching (still according to Wardhaugh), on the other hand, occurs when a change in subject requires a change in the languages used. He stated that the cases where the choice of language determines the situation are called metaphorical code-switching.
BORROWING
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
THE MARKEDNESS MODEL
Also in Nigeria, since the official language of Nigeria is English, the unmarked code in the business world and offices like banks will be English. What will be considered unmarked is the Managing Director or a supervisor in a bank calling an official meeting and then addressing his staff in Yoruba.
METHODOLOGY
Selecting the sample
Therefore, making a marked choice is a negotiation for a RO set different from the one unmarked for the current exchange since the speaker making the marked choice is asking for a new situation, for a new RO- set to be in effect. Therefore, we can say that making a marked choice is a negotiation on either the solidarity or the power dimension (or both).
Transcription
There is no specific procedure to be followed in selecting the songs to be used for this research work because any Nigerian hip hop song with code switching is all that the research work needs. This research work is focused on code-switching in these songs, therefore any new NHH song with code-switching in it that is currently popular would do.
Justification of the selected model
Many NHH artists code-switch in their song lyrics, leaving the researcher with too many options to choose from. The name of the artists selected for this work are; P Square, D‟banj, 9ice, Wande Coal and Tiwa Savage.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE SELECTED ARTIST
- D‟banj
- P Square
- Wande Coal
- Tiwa Savage
He has won several awards including the Revelation of the Year Award as well as Best Male Vocalist. They have been active in the music industry since the year 2000 and are still rocking the hip hop world to date.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE DATA
Five different songs by five different hip hop artists are to be analyzed in this chapter. Although Yoruba is only one of the three major languages in Nigeria, it is the most used by the Nigerian hip hop artists among them all. When we listen to Nigerian hip hop songs, we will discover that many of the artists use Yoruba as part of their language/languages of composition.
This is where most of them start and pursue their career as hip hop artists. Despite the fact that hip hop fans in Nigeria are not just the Yoruba speakers alone, the use of Yoruba by the Nigerian hip hop artists seems to be widely embraced across the country. Since Pidgin is widely accepted and spoken in Nigeria, most Nigerian hip hop artists see it not only as a form of peer-to-peer communication but also as a way for them to reach out to the whole of Nigeria and beyond Nigeria with their songs.
SONG 1
This reflects the artist's closeness to his audience as he uses the vocative in conversation with them and draws them closer to him. This can also be seen as the artist talking directly to his audience, bringing them closer to themselves with his use of NPE. It explains what will happen on that wedding day and the artist chooses to explain the event in a way that reflects aesthetic considerations.
In many cases it is used exactly as the artist said it (in English). The second verse of this song also started in English as the artist expresses his belief that he is on the right path. Again, from line (18) to line (23), the artist tries to describe the love he shares with his lover using Nigerian pidgin.
SONG 2
Line (24) is in NPE, while the rest of the verse is written entirely in English. The use of NPE in line (24), which happens to be the first line of the song, tends to soften the formality of the song. The English language in Nigeria is mainly used on formal occasions and since the first verse of the song is written in English, the effect of using NPE in the first line is to make it less formal.
The use of English from line (25) to the end of the first verse reflects the seriousness and importance attached to what is being said. Since Ifunnaya means love and line (33) means "the one on my mind", the artists can either try to explain that love is what is on their mind or that the lady named Love is what is on their mind . The use of Igbo in the first part of the sentence connects the artists to their roots and the closing part which is in English stretches to accommodate listeners who are not of the same ethnicity as the artists.
SONG 3
NPE identifies with Nigeria as a whole and can be understood by a very high percentage of Nigerians regardless of their tribe or background, while English is not only an official language in Nigeria (and a lingua franca) but also helps in reaching people from other parts of the world. Most of the first verse is written in NPE with a switch to English towards the end. He invited the lady to take her place in his life, but he said the most important part of his proposal which crowns him in Yoruba while every other part of the chorus is in English.
This is an important part that should be distinguished from everything he has said from the beginning of the song. The other part of the sentence is also written in English to complete the first part. He continues to explain in the rest of the verse what exactly he sees in her eyes, but as this part is.
SONG 4
The chorus expresses the artist's concern about the state of the country, asking if things will ever change for the better. This is a situation that does not exempt anyone in the country and the song is primarily aimed at Nigerians who can feel what the artiste feels as they are in the same situation together. Therefore, the artist decides to write it in a more conversational language that will reach all Nigerians more emotionally.
In the verse, the artist changes the code from Standard English to NPE in each line. This explanation is for the audience and the artist's use of NPE represents his attempt to connect with his audience as NPE is a common conversational language in the country (as we already know). now everything is disorganized). The move here will help the artist select a new audience, especially those who are not from his country where pidgin is a common language.
SONG 5
This artist uses some Yoruba terms in this song to show his identity to his audience. This makes it clear that the artist's use of Yoruba in this song was not a coincidence but a deliberate act. The second verse of the song is completely in English, with no occurrence of code switching.
Both “juju” and “babalawo” better portray the image the artist has in mind while writing her lyrics rather than trying to translate them into English. It is possible that the artist used code-switching in this song to show her Nigerian-Yoruba identity and better connect with her Nigerian audience. Yoruba in this song seems to be a solidarity between the artist and Nigeria, especially Yoruba speakers, while English helps her connect with listeners from other parts of the country and the world.
SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS
In short, the data also shows that these artists use Yoruba more than any other Nigerian language. The overall data shows the use of English, Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin English, Igbo and some little Hausa.
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
