on depth and creativity

I want to start dumping things I think or observe here.

I was scrolling through Instagram today and came across a Nigerian gospel musician performing to a very excited audience. The song was essentially one fluffy line repeated over and over again, and it brought back something I’ve thought about for a while: Nigerian gospel music often lacks lyrical depth. I’m not sure why. Is it cultural? We have a tradition of Oriki, of deep, elaborate praise, so why does so much of the gospel music we compose seem to lack that same depth? Or is it simply that these are the songs that become popular? But gospel songs with deep, meaningful lyrics also become global hits, so what explains the difference? There are exceptions, of course. Sinach has had some hugely popular songs. I’m forgetting the name of the one I have in mind, but that’s beside the point.

On creativity, I think there’s been a decline. We don’t see crazy-ass campaigns like we used to. In Nigeria, it feels even worse. When I started my career, we’d all be in the office, consuming great work. You’d see what other people were doing, get exposed to ideas you wouldn’t have encountered on your own, and learn from the people around you. I think there’s so much content today, but much of it is mediocre. We’re consuming more than ever, but I’m not sure we’re consuming enough good work to develop our taste. We’re exposed to content, but not necessarily to the kind of work that stretches our imagination or challenges us to think differently.

Remote work probably plays a part in this, too. There’s something about being around peopl