Columbia University, explained how “music functions as a social glue that binds the minds and bodies of those who create it”

In a recent article reflecting on the music of the George Floyd protests in the US, Mariusz Kozak, Assistant Professor of Music at Columbia University, explained how “music functions as a social glue that binds the minds and bodies of those who create it”, thereby creating a unification of purpose which is key for the sustenance and success of social justice protests. During the #EndSARS protests, there was a rediscovery of music both on and off the protest grounds, with a resurgence of interest in socially conscious songs like Zombie, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Beast of No Nation, and Coffin for The Head of State by Fela Kuti, Jailer by Asa, Mr President by African China, Dem Mama by Timaya, and Nigeria Jaga Jaga by Eedris Abdulkareem. Songs like these are an important driving force for the movement because of clear, powerful messages that criticised an oppressive government at the time of their release. Kuti’s Beast of No Nation was released during President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime as Nigeria’s military head of state (1983 to 1985), and serves as a commentary on what was perceived to be the autocracy of the then military government, a forerunner of Buhari’s current administration. In a country where history was removed from basic school curriculums between 2007 and 2019, Nigerians are learning key historical events (for example, the 1999 Odi Massacre, which is the focus of Timaya’s Dem Mama) through these songs. There are also softer versions of this socially conscious music that inspire hope and pride in Nigeria and Nigerians; The Future (We’re Nigeria) and The Land Is Green by TY Bello, and Originality by Faze. But it’s not the only type of music that drove the #EndSARS protests. Nigerians love gbedu (meaning “big drum”, a word that has come to describe types of Afrobeat and hip hop), even while protesting. So dancehall songs like Davido’s Fem, Tiwa Savage’s Koroba, Ogene by Zoro featuring Phyno and Flavor, and Killing Dem by Burna Boy and Zlatan, were so prominent during the protests to keep morale high.