Dance Trends and the Nigerian Music Industry

The Nigerian music industry's terrain is always evolving. Nothing stays the same. Few years ago, Olamide's slang "shoro niyen" was formerly the most popular, but now it's 'o tun ti Zeh o', we are all 'zazuing' 'Zehing' lol. Nigerian musicians are regularly restricting airflow by displaying incredible creativity in music, slangs, and dance. The trend setting especially in dance has made dancing a crucial aspect of the Nigerian Music industry.

Talking of dance, it is one of the most notable aspects of the Nigerian music industry. It's no secret that Nigerians enjoy partying and dancing (I'm sure it's in our DNA) and Music artists have been giving us back-to-back some great dance steps.

Refreshing our memories on some dance steps that made our childhood enjoyable wouldn't be a bad idea, right? ready? Leggo!

1. Yahooze: Olu Maintain is to be thanked for this. The Kennis Music star released “Yahooze” in 2008. This was a favorite dance for many because it was easy. It only involves popping two figures in the air in the like manner of spraying imaginary money. As usual, it started all simple, until Nigerians got crazier with it and developed its steps to various styles.

2. Makossa: this is the native language of Douala, Cameroon, and it literally means "dance." You sure need some energy to perform this dancing step. Makossa, especially in Nigeria, was a wave, vibe, and everything else.

3. Alanta: This was a very unique but crazy dance movement originated by a group called “Artquake“. It involved a crazy movement of the arms and legs in an alternate manner and crazy facial expressions that were slightly debasing, beating an imaginary drum on the stomach. Alanta could genuinely put you in a state of shock and dismay.

4. Galala: This dance step is associated with “the ghetto” or Ajegunle, Lagos. It originated from the pseudo-reggae sound made popular by artistes like Ras Kimono, Blacky, Fada U Turn, etc. However, Daddy Showkey will be most remembered as the instigator of the dance; it is as much a part of his identity as his long dreadlocks.

Recently, some other dance styles like shakiti bobo, shoki, shaku shaku, zanku, focus, legwork, one legge, and so on were invented.

Refreshing our memories on the trends in dance is to show the patterns of change in an aspect of the Nigerian music industry. Trends come and go and there is nothing that can be done to stop this. Truth be told, life will be boring without trends.

Ready for some legwork? Click Epoh Music to vibe to your favourite naija jams.

Do you have any dance steps to add to this inexhaustible list? Kindly use the comment section.