There’s hardly any human who has had a connection with Nigerian music that has not felt strongly about it. Sometimes, the feelings evoked are positive, leaning towards happiness, consternation, and stupefaction. The flip-side of this is irritation, displeasure, and aggravated feelings of disgust.

Why? Because we all expect different things from Nigerian music. Our individual music tastes are different, and it is not genetic. A person’s music tastes is formed through influences. This starts from early life experiences with parental-controlled music and continues as individual personalities and interaction with music become more pronounced.

In Nigeria, as a 90s kid, I was heavily influenced by my Father’s love for European and American music. Abba, Skeeter Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley Bassey, and many more were all fond memories of my childhood. We sang we danced, and we laughed and created a lifetime of memories. To this day, these artistes still make a considerable part of my playlist at any point.

With increase in education, I personally went on a music journey which ran through a number of greats including Nelly, Jay Z, Kanye West, Linkin Park, Evanescence, Backstreet Boys, 2face Idibia, Faze, M.I Abaga, and lots more. All of these have led me to this point, where Travis Scott sounds like butter to me, and cheese can be gotten from Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yatchy, Chance The Rapper, and ASAP Ferg, while my soul is touched every time by Nas, J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar come on. Need became enjoyment, became expression, became company, became me.

What do I want from music? Everything.

I want the elation that comes from listening to the upbeat stuff, while also whelming in my sorrow with music from Adele. Music is life, and I want every part of it. The good, the bad, the all or nothing stuff, the slow, fast, weak, irregular and amorphous. There’s music for every moment and I want more.

Nigerians want the same, but are scared to admit it. Pop songs are in right now because we love it. But do we all admit to loving them? That’s another case.

Nigerian pop music is made from the crudest and most relatable of stuff. The artistes go for the majority of the public when creating these music, and although there are pockets of complaints from the intellectuals, they score heavy when a hit is made in this manner. These songs mirror the collective intelligence of the nation, and trust me, a huge definitive number of Nigerians can lay claims to possessing exposure and knowledge.

These people want what the pop stars are serving, and they are rewarding these offerings with the best of their numbers, money, followership and more. A Wizkid and Davido have nothing in terms of musical brilliance to Bez, but they dwarf him in numbers due to the profound demography he caters to. That’s why the pop stars are the biggest of the lot and the others scrape after them.

What do the intellectuals want too? Everything. While education and philosophy have influenced our level of intelligence and planted in us the need for our brains to be tasked, even during relaxation. They aim for the lyrics and the melody too. Clamoring for stories, subliminal poetry and lots more. But alas, they can’t exist at such lofty planes of thought and cognition, so they seek the fluff from the pop stars too.

No! the music should be made just as it is, with a balance between artistry and commercialization sfound and maintained. Because in the end, what do we all want from music?

All or nothing. We want it all.