Music and Social Dynamics in Nigeria explores the diverse ways in which music reflects, and is shaped by, historical and social dynamics of life in Nigeria. Contributors to this volume include some of the leading scholars of Nigerian music, such as Joshua Uzoigwe, Laz Ekwueme, Tunji Vidal, Richard C. Okafor, A. K. Achinivu, Ademola Adegbite, Femi Faseun, and Christian Onyeji. Focusing on ancient and new musical traditions, including modern African art music, and drawing on the methods of ethnography and music analysis, the various chapters of the book discuss the role of music in community life, enculturation and education, political institutions, historical processes, belief systems, and social hierarchies. Conceived primarily for students and scholars of African music, this book will also be of immense value to the general reader.

Drawing on extensive field research conducted over the course of two decades, Bode Omojola examines traditional and contemporary Yoruba genres of music. From the primeval age of Ayanagalu (the Yoruba pioneer-drummer-turned-deity-of-drumming) to the modern era, Yoruba musical traditions have been shaped by individual performers: drummers, dancers, singers, and chanters, wself-mediated visions of their social and cultural environment. Yoruba Music in the Twentieth Century explores the role of the performer and the performing group in creating these traditions, contributing to the ongoing reorientation of scholarship on African music toward individual creativity within a larger social network. Drawing on extensive field research conducted over the course of two decades, Bode Omojola examines traditional Yoruba genres such as bata and dundun drumming as well as more contemporary genres such as Yoruba popular music. The book also addresses a spectrum of social issues, ranging from gender inequality to the impactianity and Islam on Yoruba musical practice. Throughout, Omojola emphasizes the interrelatedness of the different components of the Yoruba musical landscape, as well as the role of specific individuals and groups of musicians, whohave continued to draw from indigenous Yoruba musical resources to create new musical forms in the process of engaging the social dynamics of a rapidly changing environment. Awarded honorable mention in the 2014 Kwabena Nketia Book Competition of the African Music Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology. Bode Omojola is a Five College Associate Professor of Music at Mt. Holyoke College.