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Artistes who have a multi-cultural background usually draw inspiration from this. Depending on their relationship, the product of this inspiration can be conflictual, or blissful. In the world today, many blacks outside Africa paint a philosophically obscure picture of Africa. Many of these are quick to label it Africa \u201cthe Motherland\u201d \u2013 in other words, a heavenly place of no earthquakes and wars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One problem: Africa isn\u2019t heaven \u2013 hell, there\u2019s no \u201cAfrica\u201d. The continent, one of fifty-four countries, is the second most populated in the world, and attaching a \u201cone\u201d status to it is demeaning at worst. Yet, there\u2019s music, which binds Africa, even as the dangerous politics which terrorize its nations threatens to divide it. More so, music reaches outside Africa connecting with blacks, sharing with them, their lost sound and history. In recent years, this has blown into the \u201cAfrobeats to the World\u201d movement which has witnessed the international success of artistes like Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davido.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are also another set of connecting points: first generation Africans, who were born in the West or have lived there the most. Nigerian-born artistes Jidenna and Wale, represent this set. Naturally, their music (and off-studio moves) reflects their love for the country and its culture. Like custodians, over the years, they\u2019ve called on their African background to serve as inspiration for their music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cClassic Man\u201d introduced Jidenna to the Nigerian audience. It was a successful one, but one more popular outside the shores of Nigeria. In Nigeria, it was his 2017 debut album \u201cThe Chief\u201d that made him truly popular amongst folks of the West African country. The album was rooted firmly in Nigerian aesthetics, and its first words even, is a disciplinary appropriation of Nigerian elders \u2013 parents and all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jidenna\u2019s insistent grasp to the culture of his motherland is reflected in the album, its Sahari-esque drum patterns and wild horns and African wise sayings. There was \u201cAdaora,\u201d a moving ballad (its first seconds) held by the vocals of Jidenna. A name native to the Igbo tribe, Jidenna\u2019s love interest had no other option but to be black and African. Igbo, especially.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Till this day, Jidenna seems to be an artiste who finds fulfilment in seeking Nigeria, and finding it in music. The meaning of his name lends divine perspective to his artistic interests. Translated, \u201cJidenna\u201d means \u201cHold onto the father\u201d. Perhaps, the insatiable thirst for Nigerian tastes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alongside his breakout song, Jidenna\u2019s rise saw him glossy and embossed on magazines. His style, a curious marriage of African and European prints, have earned him many admirers. Ever one to embrace his origins, the intent behind the picture that has cut across continents isn\u2019t hard to see. Jidenna loves Nigeria, and he\u2019s eager to show it.\u00a0 Currently, the 34 year-old artiste is on his second album. Titled \u201c85 to Africa,\u201d the album is more expansive in the sense that its influences are more varied. Whereas his debut borrowed from the cultural hubs of Wisconsin and his native Igbo tribe, 85 is a more robust album, a marker of Jidenna\u2019s willingness to expand the frontiers of his artistry. In an\u00a0<\/span><\/span>interview<\/span><\/a><\/span>, he had<\/span>\u00a0this to say:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always toyed with the idea of creating a kind of sound highway across the Atlantic Ocean with my music. I think it\u2019s so important for the diaspora to feel connected, so the album is supposed to feel like a road trip across our various experiences. 85 to Africa isn\u2019t just a country or even one continent. We were in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Swaziland, South Africa, and Ghana, but we also started out [in] Atlanta.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n A vehicle of some sorts, \u201c85 to Africa\u201d was Jidenna\u2019s trusted vehicle to spread the music of the motherland. His first album was the proverbial return. In his second album, two years later, he\u2019s stripped himself of the three-piece suits and clean beards, and sporting braids now. And tattoos. And muscles. His music is strengthened, guided by his freedom from the branding schemes of his former label. In another interview, Jidenna\u2019s reveals 85 as the album he\u2019s always wanted to make. And in putting out the album, he was psychologically positioned to make an album which joins hands with Nigeria, digging the gold from its trenches \u2013 experiences and all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Jidenna<\/span><\/h4>\n
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