As always, one of the things that gives me joy every Thursday is that I’ll definitely stumble on a “back to basics” moment that takes me down memory lane, making me smile those good, nostalgic smiles while reminiscing. It’s mostly about music, and I get that a lot because I’m a big sucker for FM radio.
Early Thursday morning, while still in bed scrolling through both YouTube and Facebook searching for a song to write about—because I needed to draft an article before getting up—I came across one of the biggest soundtracks of the Nollywood moon back era, and I couldn’t contain the smiles. I saw myself in those days when we would give up everything just to watch the movie whenever we heard the song play.
The song is "Dinta" by actress Chioma Akpotha, and it’s a soundtrack from the movie Sacred Tradition.
I must say, those of us born in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s had the best of the Nollywood world compared to what they have now. No doubt, the movie industry in Nigeria has improved a lot in this modern era, but they can’t take away the originality, the fun, and the good vibes we experienced watching movies back then.
Okay, let’s talk about this music first before I digress into telling you how Nollywood back in the day was better. Lol.
Did you know this song? (Referring to Nigerians reading this.) Well, if you didn’t, it’s either you weren’t born then(2006, 2007, 2008) or maybe you lived in a very remote area without television and VCD. This song came from an album where every track was crafted from the Sacred Tradition movie, featuring good legends of the industry such as Chioma Akpotha, Chege Alisigwe, and others.
The particular song, "Dinta," was a cry by Chioma Akpotha when her husband-to-be was married off to her elder sister because their tradition didn’t permit the younger daughter to get married before the elder one. The song was indeed a cry, but to us, the audience, it came off as a deeply melancholic song, especially with the singable lyrics and that ear-tingling piano sound.
Watching the video again this morning, all I could do was laugh because I can’t imagine how serious they were in the video. The singer was sorrowfully singing, while the dancers were dancing joyfully.
Mehn, this song really trended back then—it made people who didn’t even know about the movie go and watch it.
I would love to know: am I the only one who knew this song back then? Or did it only trend in my state—the Southern region of Nigeria—or just in the Eastern parts, and didn’t reach the Northern and Western areas? Please tell me in the comment section.
So, like I was saying, Nigeria’s movie industry back then was fun because they were extremely real with their craft. Imagine selling a music album attached to a movie? These days, we don’t even get to hear about the soundtracks of movies.
Thanks for reading.
Video: YouTube Photo: Freepik