The Rise of Method Dressing in the Nigerian Music Scene

Since the dawn of time fashion and the entertainment industry have been inextricably connected. Clothing represents a tangible medium for expression and for bolstering the make-believe of show business. In the Nigerian music scene, still coming of age, fashion is being deployed anew, and to interesting effect, through method dressing. Rema, since releasing his obsidian-inflected, frenetically paced Heis album, has consistently donned outfits that inflect punk aesthetics from the 80s and the opium style heralded by artists like Playboi Carti. Asake’s aesthetic has morphed to complement the cosmopolitan air his album embodies. Victony’s debut album Stubborn, is a bold announcement of his resolve, his intransigence in the face of life’s uncertainties. His aesthetic since releasing the album has taken on a battle-hardened tenor, particularly underscored by his adoption of the chain mail coif; a flexible hood fashioned out of winding meshes of metal that used to be a staple of European warriors of the Middle Ages. 

Llona and Ayra Starr have also hewed parallel to this pattern. Llona’s album, Homeless, functions as a throughline between his fraught emotional state—a heady cocktail of stilted melancholy and sullen introspection—and his home city. His sartorial style since the album released has similarly morphed in lockstep with the album’s bleak atmosphere. Ayra Starr’s The Year I Turned 21, as the title suggests, is a coming-of-age treatise that captures the internal monologues of an ingenue negotiating the intricacies of nascent stardom. Her aesthetic since the album has leaned into the colorful, theatrical world the album is situated in. 

For the uninitiated, method dressing, in the context of music, refers to a situation where an artist pays homage to a body of work they put out, by consistently dressing to embody the essence of the project. This is different from the typical dress-up that occurs during media rounds or album cover shoots. In the cases of Rema, Victony, Asake, Llona, and Ayra, since their respective albums were released, they’ve all made significant changes to their fashion styles that conform to the themes of their albums. The concept of method dressing derives from the film industry, where the word “method” pervades with suffocating intensity. 

Method acting refers to an acting technique that demands that the actor sympathize with the character’s inner motivations and emotions. Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway, Sola Sobowale, and Cillian Murphy practice this acting technique. They don’t just portray the character, instead, they slip into a pseudo-trance where, during the performance, they come to believe they are the character. This allows for a more visceral portrayal of the character. Method dressing, in the film industry, extends from the concept of method acting. It’s a much lighter concept, however. It’s a situation where an actor pays homage to a character in a film they are promoting by dressing like the character outside of the film’s setting. Cases in point: Jenny Ortega donning Wednesday Adams’ signature look on The Tonight Show; and Margot Robbie appearing, at several functions, in Barbie garb. 

This year is without doubt the beginning of the dominance of method dressing in the Nigerian music scene. 

Are there historical precedents for this fully realized trend? And what are the implications of this inchoate shift, if any? Tami Makinde, a culture strategist and writer, thinks that while method dressing has come to a crescendo this year, there are historical precedents for this trend. “For years, artists have connected listeners to the universe around their albums or projects by piecing together a wild collage that pulls from their mishmash of interests.” She said, further citing Wizkid’s Ayo album as an example. The album cover sees Wizkid draped in traditional Yoruba attire. Subsequently, he’d don Ankara pants and find ways to creatively weave Ankara shirts with more modern attire. “When Wizkid donned the traditional buba and sokoto attire on the cover of 2014’s Ayo, it was a clear indication of a new stage in his career–one where he tried to connect his roots back at home with his growing profile on the world stage.”

Ojuremi Racheal, a creative director and producer, thinks this shift is both new and of immense consequence to Nigeria’s rapidly evolving music scene. “10, 15 years ago not many people were doing this. It means there’s a shift towards concept albums. People are now seeing the value in world-building. That’s basically what’s happening. It’s one thing to lean into a trend, and it is different to build an entire world because that’s what Rema has done.”

Concept albums, a type of LP where the tracks are bound by a central theme, are hardly a novelty in the international music landscape. In recent times, Kanye, Kendrick Lamar, and Beyoncé have been some of the biggest proponents of this type of art form. Every song on their projects feels like a piece of a puzzle that builds towards a grand narrative. Each album is essentially an era; the death of the old self and the birth of a new one. A new philosophy, a state of enlightenment, manifests. The narrative theme, sonic atmosphere, and mode of dressing of the album become, in some sense, the trappings of this newly found vista into the world. 

Nigerian artists, most notably Burna Boy, have attempted concept albums. African Giant, his magnum opus, is his best effort at a concept album. Over the album’s 19 tracks, he’s single-minded as he interrogates social injustices and themes of self-actualization. His subsequent albums, except Love Damini, have leaned into concepts to varying degrees but none has stuck the landing the way African Giant did. 

Tami Makinde regards the rise of method dressing this year as a welcome development symbolic of an increase in the awareness of the pertinence of world-building. “I think it’s inspiring to see more artists approach an album as a musical experience and journey rather than a quick stop in their careers. Creating an entire world around an album, down to how an artist behaves and dresses online and in person, is no easy feat and it’s certainly a marker of how artists are evolving regarding relationships with fans. As the Nigerian pop scene continues to shed its singles-driven background, it’s pertinent more than ever for artists to showcase their identity and connect directly with fans by immersing themselves deeper into their craft and truly connecting with its subject matter.”

For Rachael, this rise holds double significance. While it’s a positive development, a sign of the maturation of the industry, a swivel towards more immersive experiences, she also thinks method dressing in Nigeria is on some level borne from the need to bristle against overconsumption and oversaturation. With the rise of streaming, demand for music has precipitously increased. The supply side has also witnessed a commensurate surge. Every week a deluge of new music is pumped into the ecosystem. This oversaturation has created the need for artists to stand out: method dressing, and its accompanying devices—concept albums and world building—offer a solution. But herein lies the catch. Having to conjure a new world—a distinct sonic universe and an accompanying mode of dressing—with every project is incredibly difficult. This raises the question of sustainability. “How reliable is changing worlds every time?” Racheal asks. 

Whatever reservations one might have towards this trend or its provenance, it represents a maturity of the Nigerian soundscape. A decade ago, it was a singles market. Albums were almost entirely ceremonial, an activity to be ticked off an itinerary. 2019 marked a shift towards albums and EPs. Now we’re on the cusp of a new frontier; concept albums, projects that invite the listener into a unique world crafted by the artist. An ascension from a collection of songs to an immersive experience. As Afrobeats molts old skin and comes into new being, the rise of method dressing this year provides a brisk glimpse into the next iteration of the genre.