the types of songs that were in the musical mainstream in the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of these songs were known for the proverbial richness in their contents that largely in?uenced the thinking of men, women, young and old in the society. In those years, music was perhaps the most distinctive behavior that made us human. Every village had its own professional musicians and singers who would perform for the community. In fact, musicians were idolized in their villages. They normally sat with the king and chiefs because of their relevance and elevated status. These musicians made songs for issues surrounding agriculture, and one of such songs that still lives in my memory is: Ise agbe N'ise ile wa Eni ko sise Y'o ma j'ale Iwe kiko Laisi oko ati ada, koi pe o koi pe o. Agriculture is the major occupation of our land He who works not is poised to steal Education without agriculture is not complete. They also made music for the crowning of a new king or chief, and the reenactment of an important event that happened in the past. Special kinds of music were played during war ceremonies, hunting excursions, and other victory celebrations. Mainly these musicians used percussive instruments. These drums of different sizes and functions were made out of hollowed out logs and gourds with a tight skin over the hollow. They used a variety of bells, castanets, gongs, and local pianos. This piece is an attempt to draw our attention to indigenous music of Africa- precisely Nigeria- that seems to be crawling into extinction. Only a very few people in this generation- of south-west Nigerian origin - would know musicians like Aremu Odolaiye, Ayinla Omowura, Dauda Epoakara, I.K Dairo, Haruna Ishola, Kayode Fashola and the kinds of songs they did during and after the colonial eras. And unfortunately, the lifestyles and works of some of these men haven't been satisfactorily scholarly chronicled and archived. It is therefore predictable that these kinds of music, in the next ?fty years would have gone off the Nigerian musical radar, even though musicians like- in no particular order; Pasuma Alabi, Saidi Osupa, Muri Thunder, Wasiu Ayinde, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, Abass Obesere, Taiye Currency, Sule Malaika Alao still struggle to keep this genre alive. Today, the major brand of music swaying across Nigeria is Hip-Hop, and even the practitioners of indigenous songs are ?ne-tuning their songs to appeal to the mainstream. So, these days we hear new genres like Hip-Hop Fuji, Apala Hip-Hop, Juju Hip-Hop, This Hip-Hop, and Hip-Hop that. This
understood what King Sunny Ade was singing. We could therefore conveniently say that music is a vehicle through which human culture is shared and transmitted. Music before the 20th century was different when compared to the music of 21st century. There were distinctive occasions for each type of Nigerian music. Each cultural group had different musical tones and instruments. Then, music was unique in the manner in which it was played. Juju, Fuji and Apala, amongst several others are Nigerian's indigenous genres of music. Especially in the south-west Nigeria, these are