"Andirifaa" by Wan Shey: Nativisation and Acculturation

I had convinced myself that I was not going to write any music reviews for a while and concentrate on other folklore related projects but when I watched Wan Shey’s Andirifaa, directed and produced by Geraldrico Guevara and Lanjo respectively, I started taking notes compulsively and could not stop myself from writing. This is not Wan Shey’s sole venture into the folkloric genre because we have seen illustrations of the assimilation of hip hop in his EPs but, it is definitely one of the pieces in which he invests artistically and taps from his culture and roots the most.


The song and the visuals incorporate many aspects of the oral tradition and the attention to details spotlights the local colour of the North West region and the Nso people in particular; the typical features like dress, language, customs, gastronomy contribute to its particular character. The solid beats and strong appealing rhythms reinforced by the distinctive drum sounds effortlessly accompany the listener through the engaging storytelling process captured by the colloquialism of the lyrics which capture rural life and village gossip. At a time when concepts like nativisation and acculturation have become very necessary because of the desire to reduce social and cultural distance in an increasingly global world in which dominant cultures tend to engulf the smaller ones, such an endeavour has to be applauded.

 According to Wan Shey, the content of What he calls "patois hip hop but what I prefer to call indigenised hip hop and for this song in particular, comes from a desire to capture authentic and everyday life: “I just wanted to remind people where the true source of inspiration is and that is in our everyday reality which begins with [the] language...” This is not a statement to be taken lightly. Linguists have always pointed out that there is a powerful relationship between language and culture. By extension, the way we think and behave is influenced by language because language is a cultural reservoir in which our worldviews and values are engrained.