Shaku Shaku: Why the ‘Wobe’ street sound won’t last long as Nigeria’s dominant style

‘Wobe’ will stay, for now. It is hot, and Olamide is pushing it with the dance craze. But don't expect it to last for long.

You can find it everywhere. Look around you in clubs and parties, it is dominant. On social media, the ‘Shaku shaku’ dance is everywhere, accompanied by its sound; mostly songs mined from the underground mainland sound culture of Lagos, which is currently dominating the Nigerian music industry.

But the ‘Shaku shaku’ sound won’t last long. It might not cross the first quarter, or lead the charts for long. Right now, it does appear to be the best and hottest thing on the Nigerian music menu, but guess what, it gets cold fast.

Nigeria is a country of replication (also known as copy and paste.) We aspire to be the best at everything, but mostly never generate anything of original value and worth. What we are gifted, is latching on to different things and whipping them up to a point where we ultimately own it.

In the past, we have owned the Azonto, and last year, we grabbed the ‘Pon pon’ sound from Ghana and made it our highlight. The ‘Wobe’ sound, also known as the ‘Shaku shaku’ is up next, but we might not hold on to it for long.

The reason why the Shaku Shaku sound won’t last is the same reason why it became so big. The Wobe sound is primarily a cross between the South African House and Qgom sound. It’s a hybrid sound which focuses on the heavy drums as its most distinct feature. Percussion, if it ever makes it into the record is limited, with the arrangement designed to make the drums emphatic enough to make people move.

Qgom is described as a “big bang which leaves you happy after it hits you,” and it’s exactly what the Wobe sound does to the listener.

Melody isn’t emphasized on the Wobe sound. If anything, it is slightly discouraged. What attacks the drumming is the vocals of the singer/rapper taking on the drumming and cooking up lyrics delivered mostly in the Yoruba language, with a few sprinklings of pidgin English.

Why this sticks is because we Africans respond to drumming. All around the continent, from the Northern regions down to West Africa, the drumming remains consistent. We respond to it, get stimulated by its interaction, and move to its rhythm. It is what defines African music.

Nigeria though needs more than the drumming. We are more in tune with melodies than the drums. Melody in our music is mostly driven in our music from steel-stringed instruments (such as the guitar, bass, violin, etc.) and sometimes the percussion-driven piano, and the wind instruments such as trumpets and saxophones. It is this melody that drives the music, and defines the reception to it.

Think about this, whenever you hear a record, you say ‘the beat is mad’. It’s the melody that is actually mad because while you move to the drums, it is all the other elements coming together that register as the ‘beat’.

It is for this reason that the Wobe sound is deficient. Its main feature is the lack of a melody to drive the beat. Instead, people generally rap over the beat and deliver a catchy, but hollow experience. Only on rare occasions do we ever have a melody that carries through on the record.

‘Wobe’ will stay, for now. It is hot, and Olamide is pushing it with the dance craze. But as we progress this year, when other musicians serve us other genres with melodic brilliance, people would naturally navigate towards more fulfilling music, and the mainstream will seek another sound.

The Shaku Shaku dance will remain though. The viral dance has come to stay, joining the rich collection of local dance moves that Nigeria enjoys. It will be appropriated to fit in with different dance genres, and everyone will move on.

As for the sound, it will have to return to Agege, where it originated from. Lagos Mainland will continue to enjoy their niche genre, but it won’t hold much mainstream influence again.