"You Don Make Me Fall In Love"

This song by Nigerian hip-hop artist, D Banj, is undoubtedly the most popular song in Liberia. Not a single day passes without me hearing this song- multiple times. I knew it had become a problem yesterday when I saw two four- or five- year old girls on the street squeaking to each other “fall in love....” If you’re not familiar with the song, here’s a link to it on youtube so you have an idea of what I endure every day. It’s hard to imagine that I ever had any warm feelings for this song.

Ranting aside, it’s amazing how popular Nigerian music is over here. Besides Akon (whom people here also like A LOT), most of the other songs I hear on the radio, at parties, on the street are Naija jams. Same with Nollywood (the Nigerian movie industry, for those not familiar with the term). I met a young girl this past week and the first thing she said to me was how Omotola is the prettiest Nollywood actress. Last year, Stephanie Okereke, another popular actress, was on a STOP RAPE tour organised by the government and UN mission here in response to the extremely high incidences of rape in Liberia. I hear she drew a huge crowd too.

While it’s kind of nice to hear familiar music a lot, I’m still looking forward to getting a real taste of the Liberian music and entertainment culture.