LAGOS, Nigeria — Rock music is often produced and enjoyed under the pressure of social constraints, and the restrictive culture of post-dictatorial Nigeria made for a perfect cooker. In the 1990s and 2000s, teenagers who rejected the country’s politics of restraint in dress, physical appearance and behavior embraced American punk and metal imports.

Footage of Western concertgoers dancing in defiance of any discernible rhythm, alone in a throng of bodies, moving with careless abandon to music, presented a possible escape.

Many of these young Nigerians first encountered bands beloved by early 2000s emo kids — Linkin Park, Evanescence, Paramore, Fall Out Boy — online and, through the exchange of music, formed a digital community. They called themselves “Gothics,” shorthand for a composite of binding beliefs and aesthetics from different rock subgenres, including dark clothing, severe makeup and an obsession with death.