Abstract:
Issues of sacred music versus contemporary music call for rethinks. It is a general knowledge that the Contemporary Christian gospel music in Nigeria from its inception till late 19th century was still what it ought to be using the biblical and theological standards. It is noted that many things seem to have gone religiously ambiguous and secular about the sacredness of gospel music in these modern times. Although several scholars have written about gospel music in terms of its contexts, contents and style, however, little attention has been paid to emerging trends in gospel music performance culture in contemporary Nigeria, particularly in Lagos. This study explores emerging trends in Gospel music of modern time. It investigates the factors responsible for these trends and the implications on Christian lives. In addition, it analyzes the musical and literary structures of Laolu Gbenjo's music focusing on his 'A?lu?jo? me??ta' . It is in this light, that this work takes a critical look at Laolu Gbenjo's 'A?lu?jo? me??ta' from his ''Turn Around'' album based on SPCF (Source, Purpose, Content and Focus) conceptual framework. The methods employed in carrying out this investigation include; discography and analytical methods by giving it close listening which helped in analyzing the structure, form, rhythm, melody and harmony in order to unfold the emerging trends. Secondary data were collected through books, journals, magazines, YouTube and other internet resources. Data collected were subjected to musical and content analyses. Through the aid of music notation software- Muse score, the results were represented. The findings revealed that there is a clear difference between the gospel music performance culture of the early years and that of today owing to factors which include influence of popular music culture- , dance, technology and economic reasons. The result also shows that Laolu Gbenjo as a gospel musician shuffles between the church and social spaces leading to hybridization of gospel music and new trends emerging in his gospel music which include: the introduction of alujo, speech surrogacy, use of street language (such as o?mo? Je?su? gbe? body, etc), social media appropriation and many more. This paper concludes that engaging in the investigation of Laolu Gbenjo's 'A?lu?jo? me??ta', an hybridization of Fuji and Afro-pop music will provoke further gospel music research in ethnomusicology and African musicology as a whole. Since preservation of traditional music of a culture or a society is a benchmark for their continued existence, this study contributes to archiving the Laolu Gbenjo's gospel music in order to tell the historical development of the hybridization of gospel music and new trends emerging in gospel music in Nigeria. This study also contributes to the understanding of undiluted Gospel music and Gospel music sustainability in contemporary Nigeria.
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