Identity, Nationalism, and Resistance in African Popular Music

Home , African popular music, Afrobeat, Congolese rumba, Highlife, Marabi, Mbube (genre)

Instructor: Jeffrey Callen, Ph.D., Adjunct Faculty, Department of Performing Arts, University of San Francisco

SYLLABUS

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY 98T: IDENTITY, NATIONALISM AND RESISTANCE IN AFRICAN POPULAR MUSIC

How are significant cultural changes reflected in popular music?

How does popular music express the aspirations of musicians and fans?

Can popular music help you create a different sense of who you are?

Course Statement: The goal of this course is to encourage you to think critically about popular music. Our focus will be on how popular music in Africa expresses people’s hopes and aspirations, and sense of who they are. Through six case studies, we will examine the role popular music plays in the formation of national and transnational identities in Africa, and in mobilizing cultural and political resistance. We will look at a wide variety of African musical styles from Congolese rumba of the 1950s to hip-hop in a variety of African countries today. Readings: There is one required book for this course: Music is the Weapon of the Future by Frank Tenaille. Additional readings are posted on the Blackboard site for this class. Readings are to be done prior to the week in which they are discussed Listenings: Listenings (posted on Blackboard) are to be done prior to the week in which they are discussed. If entire albums are assigned for listening, listen to as much as you have time for. The Course Blog: The course blog will be an important part of this course. On it you will post your reactions to the class listenings and readings. It also lists internet resources that will prove helpful in finding supplemental information on class subjects and in preparing your final research project. Grading: Grading will be based on a non-competitive scale. Your grade will be based on your mastery of the required tasks—you will decide for yourself how hard you want to work.. The grading for the class will be based on the following break-down:  Attendance/Class Participation (15 points—1.5 points per week).  Course Journal—(30 points): Each week you will post your reactions to the listenings and readings on the class Blog (20 points—2 points per week). Week 3 and Week 7, you will be given supplemental internet research projects which you will report on through a posting on the discussion board (10 points—5 points per assignment).  Midterm (15 points): A take-home assignment consisting of 2-3 pages written in response to two essay questions chosen from four questions (handed out Week Five—due Week Six).  Final Project: (30 points): An 8-12 page research paper examining questions of music and identity in African popular music. All students will meet individually with the instructor by the end of Week Four for approval of their topics. The paper will be graded in four parts: . Outline and list of information sources (10 points—due Week 5). . Rough Draft (10 points—due Week 8). . Final Draft (10 points—due Week 10).  Presentation (10 points): A 10-15 minute oral presentation of the basic points of your final project.  Week One & Two: Introduction . What different approaches have scholars used to study popular music? . Are different methods needed for studying Western and non-Western popular music? . Are there general characteristics that apply to all African music? . How do African traditional and popular music differ from each other? Readings (complete citations given in bibliography at the end of the syllabus): Tennaille (243-246). J.H. Kwabena Nketia: ‚The Musical Traditions of Africa‛ (chapter 1). Peter Manuel: (1-23 & 84-89) John Miller Chernoff: ‚Music in Africa‛ (35-51 & 67-74). C.K. Ladkzepko: ‚Sub-Saharan Dance Drum Culture.‛ Listenings: ‚Ewe Atsimivu‛ (Master Drummer from Ghana) ‚Sanza‛ (Anthology of World Music. Africa: Dan) ‚Agolo‛ (Angelique Kidjo)

 Week Three: The Congo—Popular Music and Nation-building . In what ways did the Congolese independence movement use popular music? . What changes in popular music took place after the Congo achieved independence? . How did the take-over of the government by Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965 and his ‚authenticity‛ program affect popular music? . Are there common features of Congolese music that have endured? Readings: Tennaille: (5-10, 60-65 & 181-184). Muyumba: ‚Music and Power in Contemporary Africa: Language and Expressivity.‛ Stewart ( Chapters 1 & 2). Manuel: (97-103). Listenings: ‚Sanza‛ (Anthology of World Music. Africa: Dan) ‚On Entre O.K., On Sort O.K‚(Franco) ‚Sierra Maestra‛ (Sierra Maestra) ‚Article 15‛ (K.P. Flammy & Jazz Beguin) ‚Lagrimas Negras‛ (Trio Matamoros) ‚Luvumv Ndoki‛ (Franco) ‚Mickey Me Quiero‛ (Tabu Rochereau) ‚Kiri Kiri Mabin Ya Sika‛ (Dr. Nico)

 Week Four: Mali—Music of the Jalis (part one) . What roles did the Jalis (court musicians) traditionally play in Malian society? . What was the role of the Jalis in the development of popular music? Readings: Tennaille (175-178). Cutter: ‚The Politics of Music in Mali.‛ Listenings: Traditional Jali performances: Malian Popular Music: ‚Tramakang‛ (Foday Musa Suso) ‚Janfa‛ (L’Orchestré National ‘A’ de la Républic ‚Song for the Independence of Mali‛ du Mali) (unidentified artists) ‚Sunjata‛(Le Rail Band du Bamako) ‚Mama Batchily.‛ Tata Bambo Kouyate

2 Instructor: Jeffrey Callen, Ph.D., Adjunct Faculty, Department of Performing Arts, University of San Francisco

 Week Five: Mali—Music of the Jalis (part two) . How did the traditional role of the Jalis change after independence? . Did these changes affect the meaning of their music for Malians? . Did the rise of ‚superstar‛ performers, such as Salif Keita and Oumou Sangaré, change Malian popular music? Readings: Tennaille: 27-34 & 123-129 Listenings: Malian Popular Music: Emergence of “Superstars” ‚Diandjon,‛ ‚Wara,‛ ‚Kibaru‛ (Les Soro (Salif Keita) Ambassadeurs du Motel) Mousolou, Worotan (Oumou Sangaré) ‚Mandjou,‛ ‚N’Ioman (Salif Keita)

 Week Six: South Africa—Creation of Nationally Popular Musical Genres . What roles did urbanization and the media play in creating a sense of pan-ethnic identity in South Africa? . How did African-American music and the civil-rights struggle in the United States influence musical life in South Africa? Readings: Tennaille: 77-86. Manuel: 106-111. Hamm: ‚African American Music, South Africa and Apartheid.‛ Listenings: From Marabi to Disco Iscathamiya Mbube Roots

 Week Seven: Fela Kuti and Pan-Africanism . How did Fela Kuti’s music present an alternative vision of Nigerian identity? . What was the effect of Fela Kuti’s music on the growth of Pan-Africanism as a cultural/political movement? (and vice versa) Readings: Tennaille (69-76). Grass: ‚Fela Anikulaop-Kuti: The Art of an Afrobeat Rebel.‛ Olorunyomi: “Fela Anikulaop-Kuti: Performance as African Carnivalesque Aesthetics.‛ Listenings: ‚Highlife Time‛ (Fela Kuti) ‚Colonial Mentality‛ (Fela Kuti) ‚My Lady Frustration‛ (Fela Kuti) ‚Do Your Best‛ (Femi Kuti with Mos Def) ‚Expensive Shit‛ (Fela Kuti)

 Week Eight: New Directions in Africa Popular Music—Part One: Moroccan Fusion (Creating a National Popular Music) . How are the conflicting trends of regionalism and national unity expressed in popular music in Morocco? . How is the balancing of traditionalism and cosmopolitanism different in the fusion movement than it was during the ‚search for alternatives‛ during the 1970s? Readings: Schuyler: ‚A Folk Revival in Morocco.‛ Lipsitz: ‚Diasporic Noise: History, Hip Hop, and the Post-colonial politics of Sound.‛

Listenings: ‚Esssinia‛ (Nass el Ghiwane) ‚Gnawa Blues‛ (Hoba Hoba Spirit) ‚Fin Ghadi Biya Khouya‛ (Nass el Ghiwane) ‚Mimouna‛ (Afouss) ‚Fin Ghadi Biya Khouya‛ (Hoba Hoba Spirit) ‚L’Merkian‛ (Aba’raz) ‚Harb‛ (Darga) ‚Chkoun Ntouma‛ (Barry) ‚L’merkan‛ (Aba’raz)

 Week Nine: New Directions in Africa Popular Music—Part Two: Gnama Gnama, Kwaito & Hip-Hop (Morocco, Senegal, South Africa) . How does the mixing of African and foreign musical styles in Gnama Gnama and Kwaito differ from the mixing of African and foreign styles that occurred during the colonial era? . What different strategies are African hip-hop artists using to make an international style local? Readings: Tennaille: (219-225). Nourippour: ‚Hip Hop Revolution in Senegal.‛ Faber: ‚Cape Town’s Hip Hop Scene.‛ Listenings: Morocco: South Africa: ‚Style Hiphop Flow‛ (Casa Crew) ‚Who Taught You‛ (Black Noise) ‚H-K Kima Dima‛ (H-Kayne) ‚Da Struggle Continues (Prophets of Da City) ‚Ash Kein‛ (Rap Two Top) ‚Last Di Rik‛ (BVK) Senegal: ‚President of Africa‛ (Positive Black Soul) ‚Mea Culpa‛ (Domou Jolof Crew)

Week Ten: Oral Presentations (Final Project Due)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chernoff, John Miller. 1979. African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social action in African Musical Idioms. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Cutter, Charles. 1968. ‚The Politics of Music in Mali.‛(African Arts, Spring 1968). Faber, Jörg. 2004. ‚Cape Town’s Hip Hop Scene.‛ (Ntama. Journal of African Music and Popular Culture. No. 1 – http://ntama.uni-mainz.de/content/view/57/39/.) Grass, Randall. 1986. ‚Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: The Art of an Afrobeat Rebel.‛ (The Drama Review, Spring 1986) Hamm, Charles. 1995. Putting Popular Music in its Place. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. Ladzepko, C.K.. 1995. Foundation Course in African Dance Drum Drumming (http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/~ladzekpo/Foundation.html). Lipsitz, George. 1994. Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernisms, and the Poetics of Place. London, New York: Verso.

Manuel, Peter. 1988. Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey. New York: Oxford University Press. Muyumba, Francois. 1993. ‚Music and Power in Contemporary Africa: Language and Expressivity.‛ (The Literary Griot, Spring 1993 ). Nketia, J.H. Kwabena. 1975. The Music of Africa. New York: W.W. Norton. Nourippour, Omid. 1998. ‚Hip-Hop Revolution in Senegal.‛ (Ntama. Journal of African Music and Popular Culture. No. 1— http://ntama.uni-mainz.de/content/view/56/39/). Olorunyomi, Sola. 1996. ‚Fela Anikulaop-Kuti: Performance as African Carnivalesque Aesthetics.‛ (The Literary Griot, Spring/Fall 1996). Stewart. 2000. Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos. London, New York: Verso.