Each week here at YNaija, we round up the best Nigerian writing on the internet, highlighting the stories, profiles, interviews and in-depth reporting that rise above the daily churn.
Here are the ones that caught our attention:
Why your favourite Nigerian songs are getting shorter? – Abubakar Idris
Burna Boy is arguably one of Nigeria’s biggest artists presently. African Giant, his hugely successful album, was released in July. The 19-track album averaged three minutes per song (3:04). But it was shorter than his 2018 album, Outside, a 12-track album that averaged three minutes and twenty-one seconds (3:21). So is this a new trend? Why are Nigerian songs getting shorter?
Fireboy’s DML’s ‘Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps’ signals coming of a new guard – Dami Ajayi
If the album fails to deliver on the scope of its title, the music cannot be faulted. It celebrates the early hours of a blossoming affection. Boy meets girl, is boastful, leaves a good account of himself, gets a good dance, boasts some more and eventually gets rewarded. ‘Gbas Gbos’ which should have been called Low Waist, hints at the onomatopoeic pugilism that calls up graphic sexual positions.
Towards Inclusive Futures: Queer Representation in Futuristic African Fiction – Innocent Chizaram
Futuristic African fiction featuring queer characters and identity is still a shallow pool when compared to the volume of futuristic African fiction that has been published. Most of these works are barely present in literary conversations and it takes a painstaking degree of combing on the Internet and repeated soliciting for recommendations on Twitter and Facebook to discover most of them.
The Remarkable Strides of MTV Shuga – Adeniyi Ademoroti
Shuga has also failed to incorporate stories about homosexuality. In a conversation with a screenwriter friend of mine who was billed to work on one of the Nigerian seasons, he shared that a queer character was on no one’s mind when during the writing of the sixth season. This is a failure and a blind spot for the TV Series. Introducing a queer character on MTV Shuga could bring validation and representation to a group in need, and it would provide essential sexual education to LGBTQ+ youth in Nigeria.
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