Have you ever been to a party and suddenly the DJ started playing the traditional music of your hometown?
No matter what you are doing, you will like to be moved to stand up and dance for a while, and that's the power of music, music can push you out of any task for a while.
No matter how civilized a country or humans are, we can't do without music; music has a powerful influence on both individuals and countries.
Music defines a country, what they have been through, their strength and weaknesses which serves as their identity.
For instance
Reggae music, originating in Jamaica, is a powerful expression of Jamaican cultural identity. Its distinctive rhythms and socially conscious lyrics reflect the struggles and aspirations of the Jamaican people, The influence of artists like Bob Marley and the Rastafarian movement has made reggae a global symbol of resistance and cultural pride. source
In my writing a few weeks ago I highlighted the fact that traditional music has a way of saving the history, and rituals of a country, for instance, some of the music we have in Africa, Nigeria specifically takes us back to how the civil war was fought, the cause and how it ended, many of us who listen to those music lyrics now tho we were not present during the civil war but we know a lot about it, that music also help our parents to recall everything that happened then, how it affected them, and the lesson they learned, using those lessons to teach and instruct us, that is how powerful and influential music can be.
Music helps to identify people from a specific culture, when you listen to any traditional music, it won't be difficult to identify what the society or community believes, their likes and dislikes, their style of dance, and many more things about them.
Music has a deep connection with emotions, personal thoughts, and identity.
When someone is singing a song you can easily determine how the person feels, that music will serve as a mirror to the person's heart, if the person is excited over a current achievement you will know, if the person is saddened or is facing a hard challenge the song the person sings can help one to identify the mood.
Personally, whenever I have a hard job, there is some music that I love playing that gives me some positive energy to continue working, sometimes when I feel like giving up because of life circumstances, there is some music that will influence me to keep holding on to my identity and not to lose myself or give up.
Music also has a deep connection with social identity, because if am a lover of Christian music, it will be difficult for me to socialize with people who enjoy hip hops and other types of music, so I will only be connected and free with those who enjoy my type of music, and the fact is that the world is grouped into different types of people with what they love which music is number one, this is not perculiar to just one country it's worldwide, other people get to know the identity and culture of the other country as the listen to their music.
It's the same thing with the way music is consumed, across the country, people stream or download only music that influences them, the sound that Mr A loves is quite different from what Mr B will like.
Music also has a way of influencing social movements, when there is a conflict, the country comes up with lyrics that become a general anthem for the whole country, giving them more motivation and comfort, especially to the soldiers who are at the forefront.
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My mother told me a story about a song they always sang for the Biafran Civil War soldiers then and how they were filled with motivation to continue fighting for their identity, the music mobilized the people who were expressing their grief over the injustice that they were experiencing.
With the use of technology, platforms like YouTube and Spotify have brought a positive effect on different cultures and traditions because more people get to hear different cultural music from different communities; thosthisic now helps people in those countries to know more about culture and traditions different from their own.
As the earth continues to exist music will continue to have a positive and greater influence on identity and cultures, both for individuals and communities, because technology is evolving giving music producers and artists more opportunities to share what they create with people from different backgrounds and cultures, music will always be the trap that unites and brings people together because its a way people express their feelings, their struggles as well as their hope for the future.
Music has a great power and influence on culture and identity.
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