- Title: Musician 'Clay' brings rock to Nigerian music scene
- Date: 16th March 2020
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROCK MUSICIAN, BIANCA OKOROCHA, SAYING: "People tell me that, when they hear my song on the radio and they heard the English part, they thought it was an American song and next thing they heard Igbo (language), They are like 'oh my gosh she is Nigerian', so me doing that has sort of like broken that divide that would have said, she is one 'oyibo' (white) artiste and make them feel like 'yes they have someone in Nigerian doing stuff like this'."
- Embargoed: 30th March 2020 10:55
- Keywords: Afrobeat Bianca Okorocha Pidgin Rock music
- Location: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- City: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human-Led Feature,Human-Led Stories,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA003C5AYJBT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Singer Bianca Okorocha, aka Clay, brings something unusual to the world of Nigerian music.
In a nation dominated by Afrobeat, the 26-year-old who calls herself the "Nigerian Rock Goddess" is trying to change long-held perceptions that rock isn't something that belongs to her country's music scene.
Dressed in black with a crucifix sign on her cheek, she gives her alternative rock style a hometown vibe with lyrics in local languages: Igbo and Nigerian pidgin.
Okorocha's new single, "Wetin you want", which translates as "What do you want?", tells her story of defiance in a city full of crooks and hustlers with the pidgin catchphrase "This is Lagos".
Okorocha began singing in a church choir then moved on to perform in bars and at concerts.
She released her first single in 2011, "Ogadisinma", or "It's going to be well", which went down a storm.
Okorocha collaborates with other alternative artistes, to push these growing genres, for a space in the country's vibrant music scene.
(Production Credit: Nneka Chile, Seun Sanni) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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