In an open letter to musicians and artists, Emelieze said the country is in dire need of a revolution, urging them to make positive contributions towards this.
National Coordinator for All Workers' Convergence, Andrew Emelieze, has urged Nigerian musicians and artists to recognise the role of arts in revolutionising the world.
In an open letter to musicians and artists, Emelieze said the country is in dire need of a revolution, urging them to make positive contributions towards this.
According to him, the Nigerian art industry is gaining traction worldwide and as such any piece of art from the industry must reflect the living conditions of the people, query all societal ills and promote good life.
Emelieze lamented the evil trends in the music industry, which, according to him, promotes immorality, use of hard drugs and justification for fraud.
He challenged musicians to stop 'deceiving Nigerians with sensational rhyme and rhythm which makes us dance away our lives in the midst of degeneration'.
According to him, the current crop of artistes should learn from music legends like Fela Kuti, Sunny Okosun, Bob Marley, Mariam Makeba, and Peter Tosh.
The letter titled 'It is time to change the music' reads, "Our beloved artist and youths, I bring you greetings and I pray that our mission here on earth and beyond be fulfilled.
“Our dreams shall never be cut short. I commend us for our doggedness and never say die spirit. History has shown us to be creative and our activities have severally changed our sociology.
“Today, Nigerian music is an export commodity, our people appreciate our music films and other works of arts. We are now being recognised globally in the areas of arts and other activities.
“Our youths must recognise the role of arts in revolutionising the world. Our society to some extent is a product of our arts. Our music affects the psyche of society. This is the reason, we just have to change our music and direct it towards revolutionizing Nigeria.
"Our country is in dire need of a revolution that will transform our society into a progressive one.
”History is knocking, we can't continue with the music that promotes sex, love of money, 'Yahoo Yahoo' (Internet fraud), rituals, drugs, etc.
"Our youths must not be made to think of making it through fraud and shortcuts. What our current music is trending is very dangerous for us all. Except we want to deceive ourselves, our music is promoting fraud and criminality among our youths.
“The dream of our younger ones now is to get rich through 'Yahoo Yahoo' fraud. We try to justify the evils of Yahoo fraud but it will bounce back at us and might eventually destroy us. There is definitely no justification for Yahoo fraud. We must change the music.
“Our music must be reflective, it must depict our existential living conditions, it should query all societal ills. Our music must promote a good life. Our music should promote qualitative education. We must challenge dictatorship.
“Nigerian musicians must stop deceiving Nigerians with sensational rhyme and rhythm which makes us dance away our lives in the midst of degeneration. Nigerian musicians must stop being opportunist, selfish and callous by taking advantage of a bad situation to provide false comfort to the people and at the same time enriching themselves alone.
“Nigerian youths and musicians, arise now and change our music. Let our music talk to our situation. We can't be going through horrible conditions and our music will not address it.
“Posterity is waiting on us all. Our music and dance must change. I challenge our artist to change the music now and redeem Nigeria from backwardness.