Mayowa Adeyemo: Oriki Ogun (Praise of the God of Iron)

Performance: Mayowa Adeyemo +2348039220116 Videography: Aaron Carter-Ényì Translation: Mayowa Adeyemo Captioning: Aaron Carter-Ényì Interviewer: David Aina Description: Aaron Carter-Ényì In this video, Mayowa Adeyemo praises Ogun (Yoruba Orisha/God of Iron). It was recorded on July 26, 2013, at Peter King College of Music near Badagry, Lagos State. At the time, she was a music student at Lagos State University in Ojo, along the Badagry Expressway in Lagos State, Nigeria. This performance represents a specific style of oriki (Yoruba praise poetry), called Ijala. Ijala is specifically related to hunting and warfare topics, which are themselves related to Ogun and blacksmithing. Mayowa's performance might be said to be in what Comaroff calls the "formal" code of oral poetry, in that it is fixed and unchanging. In addition to this performance, two more renditions of "Oriki Ogun" are available from ADEPt: a live performance before a large audience on April 16, 2013 (   • Mayowa Adeyemo: Oriki Ogun (Praise of the ...  ) and an audio-only recording from the same day as this performance (   • Mayowa Adeyemo: Oriki Ogun (Praise of the ...  ). Listeners may note that the text and pitch contour (melody) are nearly identical for the majority of all three performances. However, in the live performance, Mayowa concludes with a striking tune and lyric: "I have sacrificed a dog for Ogun." That very melodic part of her rendition (which sounds more like singing than chanting) is not included here. This particular performance includes embodied expressions of the poetry, including the moment where Mayowa says, "Ogun has two cutlasses: one for cutting grass, and one for making marks." "Making marks" refers to the common Yoruba practice of scarification (cicatrization) on the face, called "ila" in Yoruba.