The Language of the Drum – Michael Emerald Oladosu

In Yorubaland, drums do not merely sound – they speak. The talking drum, with its hourglass shape and taut leather cords, tells stories that words cannot fully hold. Its voice rises and falls, mimicking human speech, calling out names, praise, or urgent warnings. Alongside it, the shekere, a gourd dressed in beaded skirts, adds texture to the soundscape – a soft rattle that ties the rhythm together like whispers between old friends.

These instruments are not objects – they are living, breathing storytellers. The talking drum communicates messages that transcend spoken language. A skilled drummer can recount proverbs, chant praises, or summon a distant farmer home, all through rhythm. In its tones lies an entire lexicon of Yoruba tradition, passed down through calloused hands and eager ears.

 Each beat and rattle creates a communal rhythm, inviting dancers to respond with their bodies. Feet strikes the earth in time with the drums, as though guided by an invisible thread of memory. The shekere, with its sharp, rhythmic shakes, punctuates these movements, creating a harmony that bridges past and present.

Amid modernity’s noise, these instruments remain sacred. They remind us that music is more than sound – it is memory, connection, and the unyielding voice of culture. With every beat and rattle, the drums and shekeres tell us what it means to belong.

Michael Emerald Oladosu (he/him) is the author of the poetry book, Every Little Thing That Moves, an art editor at Surging Tide, a first-reader at Radon Journal, a digital/musical/visual artist, a photographer, a footballer, a boxer, and a political scientist. He teaches art at the Arnheim Art Gallery to kids and adults, is an Art Instructor at the Anasa Collection Art Gallery, and is a volunteer art instructor at Status Dignus Child Rescue Home and Ibeere Otun Initiative. He is a Pioneer Fellow of the Muktar Aliyu Art Residency, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. His works have been published or forthcoming in many magazines and won numerous awards in writing and art; a few to mention: winner of Off the Limit Art contest, winner of Sprinng Annual Poetry Contest, second runner-up in Fireflies poetry contest, finalist in AprilCentaur Essay contest, finalist in Arting Arena Poetry Chapbook contest, Providus bank anthology alongside Professor Wole Soyinka, finalist in Paradise Gate House Poetry Contest, Better Than Starbucks, Ake Review, Daily Times Nigeria, Nigerian Tribune, Flash Frog, Blanket Gravity, Icefloe Press, Feral, Inner Worlds, Lyra, Oriire, Kalahari Review, Con-scio, Madness Muse Press, Fraidy Cat Lit, Eco Punk, Spill Word Web, Paper Lantern Lit, the Maul magazine, Zoetic, Pinch Journal, Penumbric, Motheaten magazine, Native skin, Third Estate Art magazine, the hearth magazine, kalonipa, and elsewhere.