LITERARY STYLISTICS ANALYSIS OF SELECTED FALZ'S SONGS

This qualitative stylistic study explores how Nigerian artist Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, uses language and creative techniques in five of his songs— This Is Nigeria, Talk, Confirm, Hypocrite , and Wehdone Sir —to criticize corruption and moral decline in Nigerian society. Using Leech and Short’s “Style as Text” model, the study examines the songs at the grapho-phonological, grammatical, and lexico-semantic levels to show how Falz’s language choices reveal social issues, reflect moral decay, and challenge corruption as expressed through Nigerian English. The findings show that Falz deliberately employs local language features such as non-standard phonetic spellings, code-switching between Standard English and Nigerian Pidgin, simple sentence structures, and the use of irony to create a style that is both relatable and socially aware. The study concludes that Falz’s stylistic approach serves as a purposeful and effective form of social activism, turning everyday language into a powerful and accessible means of promoting moral reflection and questioning corruption and hypocrisy among both leaders and citizens.