Rhythms of Nostalgia:The Role of Music in Nollywood Movies

By: Precious Oyewande

“The generator just sputtered off—again. The room fell into darkness, save for the flickering glow of the TV screen. Then, the unmistakable voice of Nkem Owoh as Osuofia boomed through the speakers: ‘Which kind wahala be this?!’ The camera cut to him standing in a British supermarket, eyes wide with culture shock as he stuffed foreign currency into his agbada, convinced the ‘white man’s money’ was free for the taking. The background music swelled—a chaotic blend of traditional Igbo flute and slapstick synth—mirroring the absurdity. His uncle slapped his knee laughing; his mother muttered, ‘This man is a madman oh!’ But beneath the comedy lay sharp commentary on diaspora dreams and the clash of worlds. In that moment, the entire family, from grandparents to toddlers, united in collective joy.” (Osuofia in London, 2003)

Scenes like these didn’t just entertain; their soundtracks became the heartbeat of a generation. But why do we still feel a pang of longing when we hear those songs today? Nigerian cinema thrives on nostalgia because it serves as cultural preservation, keeping traditions alive for new generations. It offers escapism, allowing audiences to crave simpler times amid modern chaos. Music shapes how audiences connect with characters and themes most importantly, it fosters a shared identity—where music, language, and settings unite Nigerians across ages. Nollywood’s music doesn’t just accompany scenes—it preserves memories. For instance when I come across any flute instrumentals in any of the Nollywood movie scenes I expect a scene of a lady who falls in love with a village palm wine tapper and is torn between choosing who to marry between the rich prince and the palm wine tapper.In romantic Nollywood movies, soundtracks often underscores passion, heartbreak and reconciliation. A soft and soulful music which captures these themes to heighten and reflect intimacy between characters.

The connection between soundtracks and nostalgia is deeply rooted in cultural identity, emotional storytelling, and shared generational experiences. Older audiences reminisce about 80s/90s using period-specific music to transition between timelines. while Gen Z associates Afrobeats with modern Nollywood. According to a survey of fans aged 20 to 30+, 65% say music is their most powerful trigger for cinematic nostalgia..

The survey reveals a fascinating divide: respondents over 30 overwhelmingly associate nostalgia with folk-inspired soundtracks (Living in Bondage), while younger viewers cite modern Afro-pop collaborations (like Simi’s “Love Don’t Care” in Mokalik). Yet both groups agree: the music is what sticks. According to “The relevance of music in Nollywood” by okpeki,he attempts to appraise the relevance of the application sound, or music in Nollywood films. Music is not used arbitrarily in film production; its function is specifically to make the meaning of the message of the film clear to the viewers. Ejeke (1994, 46) contends that “the audience may get glued to a film if music is recorded to function as an adjunct in realizing its composite meaning: the sound crew must find the appropriate type of music for a suitable musical piece when and where it is needed in the production even if it is live music that is needed”. The music gives the film its threnodic essence. Through the deployment of music in the film, a conscious audience would no doubt come to understand that the film is not only grotesque in temper; it equally has a tragic subject matter which is signified in the sound. As explored in Netflix’s 2021 documentary Nollywood: The Music Behind the Magic (currently streaming in Nigeria), the industry’s soundtracks traces the shift from the 1990s analog recordings (e.g, Living in bandage’s highlife synths) to modern Afrobeats -infused scores (e.g, king of boy’s Fuji fusion) it also highlights how budget constraint led to low creative for scoring films.

Nollywood films from the late 1990s and early 2000s often featured soundtracks that were both iconic and synthetically restrictive. While these scores were undeniably memorable—etched into the collective nostalgia of audiences—their reliance on recycled electronic loops and MIDI instrumentation sometimes diluted emotional impact. The same dramatic synth stabs, romantic piano riffs, or suspenseful bass lines reappeared across countless films, making pivotal moments feel formulaic rather than uniquely stirring. This repetition, born of budgetary necessity, turned certain musical motifs into cultural touchstones even as it limited creative variation.

The Evolution of Nollywood Soundtracks:

While Afrobeats has globalized Nigerian pop culture, its dominance in Nollywood risks cultural flattening.Afrobeats brings vibrancy and international appeal, however it’s overuse may sideline other indigenous music traditions, dilute regional storytelling nuances, and contribute to cultural flattening—a reduction of rich, varied traditions into a single, marketable aesthetic. Nollywood now stands at a crossroads. Afrobeats has given Nigerian cinema a vibrant pulse, but true storytelling magic lies in Nigeria’s unexplored sonic diversity. The future of Nollywood’s sound isn’t in a single genre; it’s in the chorus of a thousand untold stories waiting to be heard.

After all, what is a nation’s cinema if not the echo of its soul?

image source: LinkedIn