【英语趣味课堂】尼日利亚的音乐-Music in Nigeria

Todd: So Abidemi, you're from Nigeria. Can you talk a little bit about the music scene in your country?

 

Abidemi: Yes. Nigeria is just amazing now in terms of music and even in the past we’ve had and we still do have great music, great musicians. We love to party just as much as we love to eat, there's nothing that Nigerians loves more than parties. We love to have a good time. So of course, music plays an important role in that. One of the music that we have now is like fusion¹. A mix of old traditional Nigerian music and instruments with more Western Hip² Hop³, R&B kind of sound and even reggae and Jamaican music and some Spanish too mixing with it.

 

Todd: Oh wow, that sounds like a nice mix.

 

Abidemi: It is actually and because we love to dance as well, it's something that you can move your body to, you can dance to, and also some ballads⁴ as well, that makes people think. In the past, Nigerian artists were either they sang traditional songs which they sang in the languages that we had in Nigeria or they sang in English for the most part because we do have many languages. So if you want to reach a wider audience, you needed to sing in English. But these days the interesting thing is many people are mixing.

 

Todd: Oh, nice.

 

Abidemi: They will sing a little bit in English as well as in their ... mostly in their native language which makes for very interesting mixes because then people that do understand that language, it attracts them to it. And it becomes more our own thing in our own country.

 

Todd: So what are the languages that are mixed with English?

 

Abidemi: For example in my region⁵, I speak Yoruba, so Yoruba, they use a lot of Yoruba. They use Igbo language too, it’s from the southeastern part of Nigeria. And there’s also Pidgin, Pidgin is a kind of ... it's Nigerian English or ... I know in other parts of west Africa they use Pidgin as well. But it’s more like slangy English, I would say. So there's a mixture of that. So the music becomes more Africanized, Nigerianized, if that’s a word. So it makes it much more our own thing and people enjoy it. Yeah, and it’s really good. So new artists now, they’re doing that and one of the results of that is it’s more accessible⁶ actually to people that are not Nigerians. So a lot of people download Nigerian music from YouTube. For example, there’s D'Banj. He’s an artist that’s gone over to the United⁷ States and he sings with Kanye.

 

Todd: Oh, wow!

 

Abidemi: Yeah, and some big top Hip Hop artist in the United States. There was a guy who they used one of his songs in one of the American - Black American movies in the States as well.

 

Todd: Oh, cool!

 

Abidemi: And he got a lot of exposure⁸ through that. So our artist are, yeah, they become more more famous it seems like. And they're leading other areas of Africa too.

 

Todd: Well I’ll be sure to put some YouTube clips⁹ up with the interview so people can check it out.

 

Abidemi: Please do.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

music scene

 

Can you talk a little bit about the music scene in your country?

 

Here, a scene means¹⁰ the environment or culture of one type of art in one area. Notice the following:

 

So, what's the nightlife scene like in your city?

I really love the music scene in Brazil.

fusion

 

 

We have now what is like fusion, a mix of Nigerian music and R&B.

 

A fusion is a mix of work, such as food or art, from different cultures. Notice the following:

 

That restaurant serves Asian fusion cuisine¹¹.

I like fusion music that mixes rock and hip-hop.

reach a wider audience

 

 

If you want to reach a wider audience, you needed to sing in English. 

 

When you reach a wider audience, you get more people to see your work by using new methods or channels. Notice the following:

 

The Super Bowl reaches a wider audience than all other American sporting events.

Bands put their music on Youtube to reach a wider audience.

own thing

 

It becomes more our own thing in our own country. 

 

A group's 'own thing' is just done by them and not others. Notice the following:

 

People love grits¹² in the South. It is kind of thier own thing.

Most kids dress caual to college but Joe wears a suit. It's kind of his own thing.

exposure

 

He got a lot of exposure through that.

 

Here, exposure means media¹³ attention. Notice the following:

 

Our band is just getting exposure in Europe.

All artists need exposure to become popular.

 

1 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

2 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

5 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

6 accessible   

adj.易于得到的，易于进入的，可处理的，可存取的

参考例句：

• The island is accessible only by boat.这座岛只能坐船去。
• Such information is not really accessible.这种信息不是很容易得到的。

7 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

8 exposure   

n.暴露，面临；揭露，揭发；曝光

参考例句：

• After only a short exposure to sunlight he began to turn red.他在阳光下只晒了一会儿，皮肤就开始变红了。
• I threatened them with public exposure.我扬言要公开揭发他们。

9 clips   

n.剪（ clip的名词复数 ）；剪短；剪报；（塑料或金属的） 夹子v.用别针别在某物上，用夹子夹在某物上（ clip的第三人称单数 ）；剪掉；缩短；给…剪毛（或发）

参考例句：

• toe clips on a bicycle 自行车上的踏脚夹套
• Use the crocodile clips to attach the cables to the battery. 用鳄鱼嘴夹把电缆接到蓄电池上。

10 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

11 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

12 grits   

n.粗磨粉；粗面粉；粗燕麦粉；粗玉米粉；细石子，砂粒等( grit的名词复数 )；勇气和毅力v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的第三人称单数 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The sands [grits] in the cooked rice made my tooth ache. 米饭里的砂粒硌痛了牙。 来自辞典例句
• This process also produces homing and corn grits. 此法也产生玉米麸(homing)和玉米粗粉。 来自辞典例句

13 media   

n.(medium的复数)媒体，新闻媒介，传播媒介

参考例句：

• The local media reported rioting across the country.当地媒体报道了全国范围的骚乱。
• His latest movie is being hyped up by the media.他新近的电影正被媒体大肆炒作。