How he discusses political messages in Hip Hop Music
Rapping about the social and political movement is something that is very common in Africa. Nigerian Hip Hop artist M.I Abaga is an artist that fits into the category of political rap. In his song Another Thing! Do Not Be A Groupie he talks about other artists that have done anything for fame or lost focus of their craft in the pursuit of money and popularity. He explains how he’s seen this before in a different form.
“Money make these niggas do some funny things This music business isn’t funny business but why am I expecting more? When half of APC were PDP before?”
In this line it seems that it is M.I conveying his disappointment about the political climate in Nigeria. He is making a comparison of rappers today and how that relates to politics.
He’s rapping about how its important for artists to stay true to themselves and its important to stay loyal. He uses a step by step guide in the song with saying things like,
“do not be a groupie
Do not be star struck, okay?
Carry yourself and protect yourself
Like a professional
In a professional manner”
This can be compared to what the government in Nigeria should be doing. APC stands for the African People’s Convention and PDP stands for People’s Democratic Party. In Africa, the PDP is center right leaning making it more on the conservative side and the APC is more on the liberal side. M.I questions this in his song and has every right to. How can you trust government leaders in your country if they have constantly changed political sides.
I think he did an amazing job meshing both topics of politics and music into one amazing song. The beat and his lyrics make you want to keep listening. Something I also noticed is that multiple times in the song he says how he reps ‘Chocolate City’ until the day he dies, essentially letting us know that he will never switch up. If I could make a comment on this song, it would be that I wish he included more lyrics about the political climate, but even with the one line, I felt like I could easily understand the message he was trying to get across.