Music as a Medium of Socio-Political Activism: A Deconstruction of "Authority Stealing" and "Get Up, Stand Up"

Music has been variously described as the life of a living spirit working within those who dance and sing; a socio-political phenomenon which rendition traverses all social, political, religious, cultural and economic lives of Africans etc. That the music industry in Africa has lived up to the above description is not in doubt. There is also no doubt that Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Bob Nesta Marley carved a niche for themselves in the socio-political firmament of Africa and beyond. Perhaps that accounts for why so many years after their death, they continued to be fondly remembered as music icons who used their lyrics as media of socio-political awakening in their time and climes. There is no doubt that several research works have been done in the areas of music and musical artists, but the present study is poised to do something radically different, as it sets out to investigate the place of music in socio-political activism in the African continent. Thus, the paper adopted the discourse analysis method of research to review Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s “Authority Stealing” and Robert Nesta Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” The researchers arrived at the conclusion that music is, indeed, a medium of socio-political activism in Nigeria, nay Africa.