“What is good music?” This is a question that many music listeners ask one another. A common response would be their preferred genre. But what should we be looking for when asked that question? The answer is “satisfaction.” I truly believe good music is music that can bring you satisfaction. When I want to listen to a sad song and it makes me sad, that music has done its job with my feelings. It brought me satisfaction because it did what I wanted it to do. 

Now, I’d love to be sad and listen to my sad songs when the time comes but I’d love it even more if I could stay happy longer. I recently have been enjoying “Nigerian Pop” or (a more general way to put it) “Afro Pop” because I feel like there are so many things that go into the songs that make them so addictive. A song I have had on repeat for about 2 weeks now is “Dumebi”. This hit Nigerian song blew up for its creativity and boldness. Rema, a 19-year-old kid from Benin City, Nigeria, felt like the “vibes” of the music should be the main part/concern of any jamming session. It is what helps you enjoy the music and dancing much more. When he asked some of his friends if they liked the background track, many disapproved. But, Rema really loved the sound and ended up recording with it anyway. The song was very upbeat so its tempo was fast. Rema understood that so he sings and tries to mimic the beat by matching the flow of the song to his lyrics. He had limited studio time so with words that he wrote for the song and words that he threw in there for filler got into the final mix. He himself has also said some of the words he says in the song don’t even make sense, but they sound good and people can vibe to it. When reviewing it with his producer he asked him if he thought there should be any changes to the song. He said no because the people would already like it and that is how Dumebi was made. 

If this song were to be in any of the listening examples, I think it would be Unit 5 with the syncopation. The beat hitting on random notes is so much better than normal 1-2-3 beats. I feel like it would show how much syncopation can do for a song aswell as singing that complements the lyrics of the song. One important concept it could teach is to enjoy the music that makes you feel good, even if you don’t understand it.