The Artist as Social Critic: The Musical Performances of Beautiful Nubia and his Roots Renaissance Band in Nigeria

Abstract

Music is a pleasurable global Performance. Its therapeutic functions cannot be overemphasized. It is a succour and mirth to its audience. Existing studies have examined music from therapeutic functions without considering its deeper social functions. Therefore, this article examines the artist as a social critic in the musical performance of Beautiful Nubia and his Roots Renaissance Band in Nigeria. The artist's mental status, both conscious and unconscious, in the creation of his work was investigated. Closely allied with this is his intention about the work, as well as the factors that prompted the state of mind for example, the spirit of the age, the socio-economic conditions of the times he expresses feelings to his audiences, and so forth. Video recording texts of the Nigerian artist were used for the analyses. Schechner’s Performance theory and Psychoanalytical theory of Jung were used. Data were subject to Performance and literary analyses.