The New Wagnerians: HipHopera at City Winery
What does German-born musical entrepreneur Richard Wagner have in common with Nigerian-born musical entrepreneur Babatunde Okinboye? Gesamstkunstwerk.
It’s a mouthful, but Wagner (pronounced RI-kard VAG-ner) had the flamboyant idea that there had to be something bigger than the grand opera that had taken European concert halls by storm in the 19th century. He wanted something bigger, much like the concept albums and related performances progressive rockers would eventually produce, something all-encompassing where philosophy, narrative, music, staging, and venue combined into a total work of art, a total (gesamst) art (kunst) work (werk). He was even able to establish a venue dedicated solely to his productions. That venue, Bayreuth (still in use today), hosted some of the largest orchestras known to that time, orchestras that required singular vocal training that resulted in an entirely new category of singer—Wagnerian.
While today’s entrepreneurs don’t typically have the resources the mount such massive productions, the basic concept of an all-encompasing Gesamstkunstwerk is budding in fascinating ways. Composers and performers are expanding music beyond the European canon, experimenting with venues beyond the standard concert hall, drawing in audiences from a broader world of listeners and actually including them in their performances, something even Herr Wagner never managed.
As performer-entrepreneur Nmon (EN-mun) Ford asserts, they seek “to create a new, unified musical language developed to function at scale in live performance—built for live impact.” Ford’s opera Orfeus is designed to transmogrify into any space, whether club, proscenium state, or “expanded architectural setting.”
For an entry into this provocative new world of contemporary Gesamstkunstwerk, one of the best docents is Babatunde Akinboboye (baba-TOON-day oh-kin-BOY-yeh), whose act is known as Babatunde HipHopera or more simply “the HipHopera guy.” This young Nigerian American baritone started his opera training at California State-Northridge. While placing in international competitions, he performs traditional and premiere works with Los Angeles Opera, L.A. Philharmonic, Opera San Jose, and Detroit Opera, among others. Among his noteworthy roles is that of Matias Reyes, one of the principal roles in the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera The Central Park Five. He is active on TikTok and Instagram, often commenting on current and historical music while holding a delicate teacup. His TikTok fame and attractive musicality led to a TV appearance on America’s Got Talent.
Currently, Babatunde is touring City Winery® locations nationwide. His ninety-minute show consists of a progression of personal narratives about his journey from young hip hop fan in Nigeria through formal opera training in the US, into his self-created genre fusion of hip hop beats with bel canto singing, rapping, and dancing.
The solo performance, backed by an onstage DJ, worked well in the City Winery ambience of an upscale nightclub. Candles, dimmed lights, stage area lightly raised enough to be easily visible without the distance of a traditional recital hall, all combined to create a welcoming environment. And unlike the typical nightclub, the audience was consistently attentive.
But Tunde’s HipHopera is more than just slapping beats on a Mozart aria. He thoughtfully curates hip hop tracks with arias and art songs in such a way that opera afficionados begin to reexamine both the aria and the track. The layering of Rossini’s ebullient “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville—made famous in pop culture by Bugs Bunny as Figaro the barber, singing “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” repeatedly—with Kendrick Lamar’s intense “Humble” initially feels counterintuitive. Rossini’s aria is quick and cheerful; Lamar’s track is grave and woeful.
But consider Figaro’s humble position in society as a barber and “fix-it” man, his self-reverential emphasis on his “fortunatissimo per verita! [best of good luck]” and having a life better than even the nobility. Then consider “Humble” where the narrator evokes self-reverential memories of his modest beginnings, admitting that despite his current fame, French cognac still “taste like Kool-Aid.”
Like Ford, also trained in California, Tunde engages the audience, this time in crowd favorite “The Toreador Song” from Carmen. The talented audience sang with vigor and solid pitch—in French. Amazing. And the same happened when he asked the audience if they could dance to classical music. Several in attendance were immediately on their feet for “La Vendetta” from Mozart’s Figaro opera, The Marriage of Figaro.
With Patrick Dailey, nationally active countertenor and my concert partner for this event, we found ourselves reassessing arias we have known for decades and reexamining recent hip hop tracks. The stimulation of viewing both historical favorites and current works from new vistas added value to this experience. This is the HipHopera Guy’s second appearance in Nashville, but hopefully not his last. Perhaps next time his formidable vocal skills and dynamic stage presence can be displayed with Nashville’s opera or symphony.
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Y Kendall is a Stanford-educated musicologist, specializing in dance history who recently earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Columbia University, studying nonfiction writing with Ben Ratliff and Margo Jefferson. Kendall’s diverse works have been published in Alchemy: Journal of Translation, Columbia Journal, Mitos Magazín, The Hunger Mountain Review, and The Salt Collective, among others. Born and raised in Tennessee, Kendall now lives near Nashville, freelancing as a flutist and writer, while caregiving for relatives.
