Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

The contraction of the world into a 'global village' has made globalisation, and its counterdiscourse, glocalisation, unavoidable subjects of enquiry, particularly for indigenous music cultures negotiating uneven access to global visibility. This study examines glocalisation in Bísádé Ológundé (Lágbájá)'s "Africano" ensemble, addressing a gap in existing scholarship on his aesthetics and identity politics. The study adopts descriptive and content-analytic approach to purposively selected recorded works, streamed via Apple Music, YouTube and his official website, and supported by library sources, documentary observation, and archival materials. The study is anchored on Roland Robertson's theory of glocalisation. It finds that Lágbájá's "Africano" style represents a resurgence of refined African music and existential consciousness within the local– global interaction of popular music. The concept itself is rooted in the central role of indigenous Yorùbá drums and rhythms in his groovy fusion. Within this interaction, Lágbájá develops "Africano Manchine", a digital "drag-and-drop" library of Yorùbá grooves, and Elektro Groove Music (EGM), a fusion of traditional Yorùbá music with electronic elements. The study further identifies a recontextualisation of global musical styles in Yorùbá socio-aesthetic terms and a multimedia network of elements generating holistic cultural expression. Creative cultural assimilation, rather than cultural isolation, thus emerges as a defining feature of Lágbájá's music. The study concludes that cultural development does not occur in isolation but through the creative assimilation of progressive aspects of new cultural contact, and recommends that Yorùbá folkderived popular music leverage the opportunities of the global digital age, through glocalisation, for wider reach, patronage, and cultural sustainability.

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