Imagery in Fuji Music: Saheed Osupa as an Examplar

Abstract

Existing studies on Fuji music have investigated the genre  and its artistes from the angles of origin, market value, invectives, and propaganda. However, its artistic deployment of imagery for communicative purposes has not enjoyed robust scholarly attention. This study investigates the use of imageries in selected live performances of Saheed Osupa, a popular Fuji musician, using Charteris-Black’s critical metaphor and Mey’s pragmatic acts theories. The study finds that imagery is deployed in Osupa’s music for the communicative purposes of self-exaltation and us-them dichotomy. He sauced his performances with food, animal, music, and celestial imageries to realize the themes. He also used other figures of speech such as pun, hyperbole and personification within the imageries to vivify the themes. The study concludes that imagery serves both artistic and thematic functions and is also used to reflect ideological stances in the music of Saheed Osupa.