How Mr. Skylark Is Bringing Juju Music back to the Streaming Generation of Nigerian Music

Over the decades, Juju music has continued to be one of the most celebrated indigenous music in Nigeria, influencing the country's musical identity with its narration qualities, usage of live instruments and rich expression of the Yoruba culture. However, in the era of Afrobeats, Amapiano and the fast-paced digital consumption, the genre has not been able to win the attention of the younger generation, which are now more likely to find music by streaming on platforms and social media.

Many of the old-fashioned Juju legends made their careers on the stage or with live performances and regular record sales, but a new breed of artists is discovering how indigenous music can transform without being lost. At the forefront of that discussion is Mr. Skylark, Otolorin Oluwasegun Michael who is a native of Ogun state and a musician.

Mr. Skylark is not seeing streaming as a conflict with the traditional music media, however, but as a chance to expose listeners to juju music who might not have heard it before. He has been consistently uploading original works on Audiomack, YouTube and other digital platforms since he debuted his music catalogue online and has been slowly building an online catalogue that incorporates the essence of Juju music and the current listeners' preference.

His catalogue includes dozens of releases, such as thematic monthly issues, joint recording and live performance discussions merging traditional Yoruba musical settings with modern production procedures. The approach is indicative of a calculated attempt to make native music more findable and accessible within an ever more digital entertainment landscape.

As opposed to most modern artists who focus on brief promotional periods of one release, Mr. Skylark has embraced consistency as a long-term growth plan. He has been able to sustain a consistent output of releases over the last few years as well as attend cultural events, celebrations and live entertainment events throughout Nigeria. This physical performance/ digital distribution balance has helped him to maintain the communal tradition of Juju music but also reach beyond the traditional Juju music audience.
Teamwork has also come to be a characteristic of his artistic experience. In his career, Mr. Skylark has collaborated with various native artists, upcoming singers and live musicians to come up with records which highlight the communal aspect of Juju music as opposed to making it a solitary endeavor. By so doing, he helps to keep alive an ecosystem in which young performers still practice one of the oldest musical traditions in Nigeria.

The difference between the approach adopted by Mr. Skylark is the fact that he realizes that the only way to preserve indigenous music is not by merely performing it. It must be recorded, have a digital presence, grow an audience and regular activity on the platforms that the consumers of music of the current generation are listening. Through actively releasing his work on-line, keeping up a growing online catalogue and adopting streaming technology, he is making sure that Juju music can still be heard in the fast changing music industry in Nigeria.

With the discussion on the need to preserve the indigenous music of Africa gaining traction, artists such as Mr. Skylark show that tradition and innovation do not necessarily need to be at odds. Rather, it is perhaps the musicians who would take Juju music into the digital realm and still be true to the cultural values that have been used to characterize the genre over the ages.

This is a refreshing view not only in an industry where the commercial tendencies tend to dictate the ways of creative output, but also in the career of Mr. Skylark, who has shown that unity and cultural genuineness and judicious application of digital media can all be combined together. His work proposes that Juju music is not just enduring the streaming times, it is slowly gaining new audiences with artists dedicated to ensuring that one of the most significant musical traditions in Nigeria remains alive and developing.

Connect and Listen to Mr. Skylark on Instagram | Audiomack | Youtube