WHAT caught my attention the first time I watched the video of Reminisce’s Ponmile was the blend of Yoruba words with English to make beautiful sense promoting social order. I decided to listen carefully to the lyrics again and resolved that it was a piece worth studying as a sociologist.
Reminisce is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and songwriter from Ogun State. In 2014, Time Magazine named him as one of seven “world rappers you should meet”. Just recently, he became the only hip hop artist in Africa to have an album debut on Billboard Charts World Music category at no. 12.
The gradual return to indigenous languages by young Nigerian musicians who used to sing only in foreign languages is a welcome development. This must be encouraged because language and culture have tremendous effects on the development of a society. To examine the impact of music on the development process, I have decided to review Reminisce’s ‘Ponmile’ and its contribution to social order.
Ponmile is rooted in the family institution, the bedrock of all other social institutions. The family plays a vital role in social order and the maintenance of peace. Consequently, the function of the family can only be realised by the stability of the couple in a union. The requirement of that agreement is what Reminisce tried to contextualise in the track. And in doing this, Reminisce was influenced by his culture because the Yoruba cosmology places value on the family institution and the process of setting up a family is as important as the family itself.
Indeed, the Yoruba value good character, with anyone that has it referred to as ‘Omoluabi’. Yoruba land is a patriarchal society, and the man is expected to provide for the family. So, Reminisce saying that ‘Mo le to ri e we l’Okun o; mo tun le to ri e we lo Osa’ (I can swim in the Ocean and the Atlantic because of you) is an admission of his responsibility as a man to cater for his family as expected among the Yoruba. ‘Mo le to ri lo gun opo-opoinaa’ (I can climb the electric pole because of you). The Ocean, Atlantic and electric pole represent the length a man, as envisioned by Reminisce, can go for the wife.
