Indigenous African Popular Music, Volume 2

Studies have been established on the use of African extra-mundane communication such as incarnation, spiritual chants, rituals, prayers, sacrifices, invocations, trances, hysterics or liberation in both indigenous and exogenous media of communication, except music. Meanwhile, Apala, as an example of indigenous popular music, is one of the Yoruba many notable music genres that rely heavily on Yoruba cosmological views used to describe the Yoruba identity. As a result, this study will explore forms and levels of extra-mundane communication in selected songs of Ayinla Omowura, who was one of the prominent proponents of the indigenous Apala popular music in Yoruba land. We argue that the artiste’s (as an agent of communication) use of extra-mundane communication (as a tool) helps to preserve and reinforce the significance of extra-mundane communication in Yoruba people’s cultural memory. Also, we believe that the evidence of these African extra-mundane communication styles reveals the rainbow role of traditionalist, priest, prophet, seer, activist, ombudsman, devil advocate, father—all of which Ayinla Omowura signified as an agent who employed indigenous music in his society. Consequently adopted textual research design because we regarded the artiste’s songs as texts, which we listened to, transcribed and translated from their native Egba-Yoruba language into English language. Applying the purposive sampling technique, we also selected only songs that paraded Yoruba extra-mundane communication forms and levels from 22 music albums Ayinla Omowura released in his roughly 10-year career, spanning between 1970 and 1980 when he died. As units of analysis, we used extra-mundane communication components to analyse the selected songs, with excerpts culled from the songs to show how the artiste deployed extra-mundane communication in his music. We hope that the findings were able to confirm Ayinla Omowura as an agent who utilised extra-mundane communication forms and levels to perform his role among the Yoruba people.

In the past decade, politicians in parts of northern Nigeria have increasingly become interested in the indigenous music sector, thereby engaging in a win-win partnership with local musicians. Notably, Hausa music has taken an important place in the political landscape in parts of the north. This chapter is, therefore, an attempt to examine the role played by politicians in democratizing musical production in Northern Nigeria. Methodologically, the chapter analysed three popular Hausa political music that emerged during the 2019 electioneering period: Abba Gida-Gida, sakamakon Chanji, and Jadda Garko Dan Kasa Ya Rage Naka. Additionally, an in-depth individual interview was conducted with selected politicians, and the musicians. Findings reveal that politicians use music as a political campaign tool because music is known for its uniqueness in appealing, and for its capability in influencing the desired change. It was also found that politicians, or sometimes their die-hard supporters, commission musicians to produce political songs that portray slogans, manifestoes and agenda of the candidate. It is, therefore, the conclusion of this chapter that political music production is a booming business in parts of the north, whose impact is felt in the political, economic, and social aspects of human endeavours.

This chapter focuses on the nexus of popular music, discourse and politics in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that maskandi music played a significant role in political mobilisation, grandstanding and discursive legitimation of former President Jacob Zuma during the period 2008–2018. Despite Zuma facing rape and several corruption charges, maskandi musicians chose to sing in support of his presidency. This was because Zuma adopted populist tendencies and grandstanded before his supporters as a symbol of Zulu ethnic nationalism and hegemony. The Critical Discourse Analysis reveals four categories of discourses carried in maskandi music. The first category deals with maskandi music that mobilised political support for Zuma and legitimised his bid for the presidency. The second is music that legitimised Zuma’s corruption and rape charges. The third is music that functioned as political communication for Zuma and played a role in public diplomacy for South Africa. The last category deals with music that encouraged Zulu ethnic nationalism and hegemony. It is concluded that some maskandi music has become an antidemocratic vehicle that uncritically legitimatises oppression and corrupt political leadership in post-apartheid South Africa. The chapter contributes to the analysis of the juncture of discourse, indigenous African popular music and politics.

This study argues that indigenous musicians in Zimbabwe have acted as “dissident” archetypes in a country where any formal opposition to power has been met with legal and extra-judicial interventions by state apparatus. This form of dissident expression is drawn from Zimbabwe’s historical political experience tracing back to the pre-colonial period. This chapter employs the concept of the dissident to study Zimbabwe’s post-independence-era musicians (1980–2020) and Mano’s conceptual framework of music as a journalism variant to understand how musicians have relied on lyrics to challenge power. This study finds that four themes have found lyrical expression: Marginalisation, socio-economic inequality, corruption and political violence/repression. The selected musicians for this study are Thomas Mapfumo, Hosiah Chipanga, Lovemore “Majaivana” Tshuma and Wallace “Winky D” Chirumiko. They sing in Zimbabwe’s two dominant languages—Shona and Ndebele— and their lyrics exhibit a dissident tone. The findings of the chapter suggest that the selected musicians coded their lyrics in dissident language which sought to challenge political hegemony, expose corruption and decry poverty under the successive Zanu-Pf rule.

How have the indigenous African popular music artistes portrayed the world, Africa, governments, people and themselves in relation to these realities?

A study to investigate Indigenous Ngoni African popular music in East and Southern Africa has revealed that Ngoni culture is portrayed to Africa and to the world as an advanced democracy that respects dignity, cultural values as well as traditional beliefs. It also indicated that their music reveals ingredients of unity of the tribe regardless of the colonial boundaries, making it one of the largest ethnic tribes in Africa. A total of hundred people were selected and interviewed during the traditional cultural festival that is called Umtheto in Malawi (done every August), Nc’wala in Zambia (done every mid-February) and Maji-maji in Tanzania (done end of February every year) (Etats, Malawi: Ngoni Cultural Festival Uniting East and Southern Africa. http://​www.​54etats.​com/​fr/​node/​8813, 2020). The study used a simple sampling method to identify respondents. It also used face-to-face interviews as well as focus group discussions (Alassutari, Researching Culture, Qualitative Method and Cultural Studies, SAGE Publications, 1995). The study also revealed the old traditional two-step model of communication being used as the people use chiefs and other people who are ethical in society as opinion leaders (Katz, The Two-Step of Communication: An Up-To-Date Report of a Hypothesis. In B. M. Enis & K. K. Cox [Eds.], Marketing Classics [pp. 175–193], 1973), while others use the one-step model of communication (Bennett and Manheim, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science [Online], 608, 231–232, 2006). It is hoped that this revealing study about the role of music in economic as well as social cohesion will be useful in Africa and beyond with lessons that can help in economic development.

Music is the life of a living spirit working within those who dance and sing. Using the medium of music, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti distinguished himself as a die-hard critic of successive governments in Nigeria. His well-coordinated protest songs, disseminated to the public through the medium of his legendary “Afrobeat” music, continue to earn him a place of reverence within the political firmament of Nigeria and beyond, even long after his death. This chapter traces protest messages contained in the selected songs of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, to demonstrate their contributions to the socio-political lives of Nigerians and indeed Africans. The chapter is anchored on the theory of framing while relying on the textual review approach to research. It purposively selects “Sorrow, Tears and Blood” and “Authority Stealing” for analysis. The chapter concludes, among other things, that the selected protest songs ultimately awakened the people’s consciousness to repressive governments and the menace of treasury looting by those in positions of authority.

The chapter is premised on the discursive nature of African indigenous popular music and the way Zimbabwean artistes engage in self-censorship in articulating and promoting democratic and egalitarian culture in post-independence Zimbabwe. The central focus is entrenched upon the development that the Zimbabwean artists’ target audience is bifurcated in two heterogeneous camps: the sublime suspect group constituting the central force being called to right a wrong and the marginalised subgroup. The chapter engages the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) theory to examine the effect of a marginalised and hybridised Zimbabwean music genre: Theological-Sungura and its discursive articulation towards the propagation of a virtually utopian and democratic socio-political terrain. Qualitative purposive sampling of Zimbabwean Theological-Sungura artists is carried out. This chapter argues that Theological-Sungura can be truncated from both porous mains as an emergent daughter genre and that this genre is inwardly militant in its promulgation of democracy and socio-political pluralism. The genre acquires a more conciliatory and euphemistic censure for a rhetorical function promoting harmony and conflict-free socio-political landscape.

Indigenous African artistes constitute themselves as watchdogs of the society by keeping a tab on the societal activities, especially in the governmental circle. They follow day-to-day happenings keenly and render such in songs as they extol the virtuous and condemn the vicious. Music is therefore a potent instrument of socialisation, reformation and reconstruction. It is lamentable that Africa is bedevilled by instability, economic woes and socio-political backwardness which arise out of poor governance. This regrettable situation cuts across Africa and it has prompted Christian gospel artistes to take their musical ministries beyond the Church auditoria into the public sphere. They have become ardent social critics by suing the government of the day for accountability and good governance. Christian gospel artistes in Yoruba land are no exception and Evangelist Bayo Adegboyega who sang his songs in Yoruba was prominent among them. Using selected albums of Evangelist Bayo Adegboyega as data, this study examines how he employed his music as an instrument, not only for evangelism but also for social crusade, political reengineering and moral advocacy. This study recommends that gospel artistes, using the instrumentation of music, should impact the world positively by adhering to the ethical and spiritual tenets of the Holy Bible.

State-mindedness refers to the relationship between a text and the state. It is an intervention on the unaddressed dynamic within the commonplace phrase of ‘political communication’. There are three ways through which state-mindedness occurs, namely state-minded protest, state-minded unity, and state-minded praise. In the first instance, an artiste communicates dissent to oppose certain actions or inactions by the state. In state-minded unity, the artiste advocates nationhood and/or a nationalist philosophy. State-minded praise music transpires when the music is in solidarity with the constituted state. This implies that an artiste, through covert or overt means, deploys music in supporting or endorsing a politician. This study engages with state-minded music by blurring the unexplored vacuum between oral poetic forms and musically accompanied praise. Whereas much has been written on oral traditions and praise music in Africa, few studies have considered the practice of praising politicians as a distinct genus. In so doing, therefore, the focus of the analysis is on Nigeria where political leaders have procured popular musicians since independence through military rule, and now. A synthesis of the origins of the state-minded praise music species precedes a discussion of contemporary practices etched on insights from interviews with Nigerians in music and in politics.

One of the indigenous African popular music genres among the Yoruba people of Nigeria is ijala, a form of Yoruba poetry. There have been lots of studies on ijala in the areas of form, style and cultural beauties. Societies are beset with the challenge of value system from the family to the larger society. There is a need to promote core values, transform negative attitudes and behaviours and commit the people to the renewed values. However, there is a dearth of scholarly attention on the moral reorientation functions of the ijala. Hinged on the cultural norms theory, the researcher purposively selected five tracks of Ogundare Foyanmu and qualitatively analysed the song-texts textually to determine the presence of the moral reorientation messages. The study contributes to the body of knowledge in the area of ijala, indigenous African popular music and moral reorientation. It revealed that there are copious moral reorientation messages in the song-texts. It is, therefore, recommended that further researches should be carried out on ijala and communication messages therein and, on the other, the ijala artiste. The findings of the study would benefit agencies of government at different levels in a bid to inculcate morals in the members of the society.

Nigeria, despite her abundant human and material resources, has always been confronted by leadership challenge. The successive governments, both the military and the civilian, have not been able to provide the desired purposeful leadership for the people. The citizens on their part are also contributing to the slow growth of the country through moral decadence and gross indiscipline. The trio of the Fuji progenitor, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, the Awurebe exponent, Dauda Epo Akara, and Dadakuada maestro, Odolaye Aremu, in some of their music albums advocated for good governance, condemned social vices and promoted moral values. This chapter analyses some of these albums. The agenda setting and social responsibility were adopted as the theoretical framework.

Africa is blessed with a series of organic food that is not only nutritious but also of cultural values. Food sovereignty is an approach to self-sustaining as against the concept of food security that is externally inspired irrespective of culture and environmental demands. The western world continues to promote food security to sustain various multinational corporations’ (MNCs) profit ambition. The questionable Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) was not a dubious strategy to subject Nigeria to a monocropping enclave; it is also in a bid to perpetuate neo-liberal, complex interdependence in international economic relations, only to the disadvantage of the developing areas in general and Nigeria in particular. This chapter examines how indigenous music promotes traditional food in Yoruba land and identifies some misguided music that supports genetically modified (GM) foods which constitutes a destructive biotechnological approach and is inimical to sustainable development. Social constructivist theory and the adoption of secondary data are the focus of this chapter. The theory exposed the lapses entrenched in inorganic food. This chapter calls for an agroecological form of food production and consumption.

The outbreak of the novel COVID-19 virus in 2019 has raised questions on the trigger, risk factors, spread, impact and prevention. However, conflicting rhetoric are churned out by political, religious and public figures, some of whom have suggested the use of disinfectant, ultraviolet light and untested herbal remedies. Therefore, a pandemic of misinformation, disinformation and fake news has arisen with health, economic and psychological consequences on the citizens. This chapter focuses on the mainstreaming of indigenous Afro-hip-hop music in Nigeria in the fight against COVID-19 Infodemics. Using the conceptual research method and anchored on the agenda setting and framing theory, the chapter argues for the engagement of indigenous music especially Afro-hip-hop in the spread of authentic and verifiable information to educate, mobilize and set agenda for the society in the curtailment of COVID-19.

The visually challenged Zimbabwean musician, Paul Matavire is usually dismissed, in discourses and talk, as a staunch, precarious misogynist whose music, while socially acceptable, offensively advanced subjugation of women in society. Limited existing scholarship on Paul Matavire’s music leans unfalteringly against the thinking that Paul Matavire humorously glorifies and celebrates patriarchy in his songs. This chapter unpacks Matavire’s gender philosophy showing that his songs actually unmask patriarchy rather than celebrate it. The chapter argues that Matavire’s gender position is intricately squashed between gender dictates on one end, and masculine aspects on the other. This, in gender relations, exists not only in Zimbabwe but in most African societies and tends to confuse researchers who attempt to study Paul Matavire’s art altogether. The chapter hopes to provide knowledge on the nature of Matavire’s gender philosophy in his songs as a gateway to acknowledging notions of negotiating gender spaces in a mannish society.

The communicativeness of music in African culture and society is enormous and its usage is encompassing. Music is one of the most common forms by which humans express their emotions, feelings and sentiments. The last two decades have witnessed a tremendous growth in the Afro-hip-hop music culture in Nigeria. Because of its enormous appeal, it has been used as a medium for expressing varieties of ideas, feelings and emotions. However, there has been a growing concern over the negative impact of the music on the perception of women in the society. Recently, frequent rape cases in Nigeria are reported on the pages of newspapers on an unprecedented scale. The sudden upsurge of the number of rape cases in Nigeria has been condemned by several quarters and it is becoming worrisome. Highly placed people in the society in Nigeria, non-governmental organizations, governments and pressure groups including Afro-hip-hop artistes have come up using their social media handles to condemn the alluded ugly matter. Fingers are pointed to the moral decadence among the youths in the society due to the erotic and sexually laced lyrics of Afro-hip-hop music they consume daily. The Afro-hip-hop music industry is massively dominated by the male folks and when listening to their lyrics closely communicate misogynistic tendencies by reducing women to mere sex objects to be desired, used and dumped at will by men. The question is after churning out lyrics that communicate and promote sexual abuse, do the Afro-hip-hop music artistes have the moral justification to join other highly placed Nigerians to condemn the spate of rape and sexual violence against women? The author empirically analyses the communicativeness of the lyrics of these top Afro-hip-hop music artistes and how their lyrics promote and encourage sexual abuse against women. Social identity theory and uses and gratifications theory informed the frameworks for this study. Thematic analysis of Nigerian Afro-hip-hop lyrics teemed with sexual and erotic notes were analysed to find out the symbiotic relationship between such lyrics and violent sexual behaviours against women. It was recommended that female Nigerian Afro-hip-hop artistes can use their lyrics to counter and promote values, virtues as well as discourage, reduce and mitigate vices such as rape in the society that their male counterparts in the industry are promoting.

Swati indigenous and popular music has featured on Eswatini Broadcasting Service since the radio station’s establishment in 1966. Oftentimes, this music addresses political, economic and social issues including gender relations. Due to Eswatini’s cultural milieu, Swati women face numerous gendered problems such as high rates of gender-based violence (GBV): femicides, rape, physical and emotional abuse. GBV continues unabated despite the promulgation of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018. As a result, various stakeholders, including musicians, have taken the initiative to comment on Swati women’s empowerment or disempowerment. Eswatini’s traditional and popular musicians alike compose songs that discuss and debate female oppression. In this chapter, we investigate the relatedness of women empowerment or disempowerment to indigenous and popular music. We do this by comparatively analysing the content of Eswatini’s indigenous and popular music about women’s empowerment. We juxtapose siSwati indigenous songs with popular/modern songs in order to establish the similarity and dissimilarity of the songs’ lyrical content and its intimations. We discuss three indigenous songs titled “Sinikeni Lamajobo,” “Nansi Indvodz’ingshaya” and “Uboshiwe LaMkhize,” and three popular/modern songs titled “Inkunz’enjani?” by DJ 1D featuring Mozaik, Qibho Intalektual and KrTc; “Bahlukubetelwani?” by Thabiso and Colani featuring Mlingani Le Poet; and “Tinyembeti” by Zamo. The study employs a qualitative content analysis under the backdrop of Chikwenye Ogunyemi’s African Womanist approach. The chapter concludes that women empowerment is a popular subject in both indigenous and popular music composed by both males and females. However, indigenous songs vocalise women’s perspective more effectively than popular songs composed by young contemporary male artists.

Since independence, a trend indicates that Tanzanian youth are excluded from political matters of their country. On this account, their views and concerns are articulated by others, most of whom do not have lived experience of their challenges. Being victims of underrepresentation, youth increasingly search for alternatives to make their concerns heard and their views included in the national agenda. This study uses ngoma songs composed and/or modified by youth as a window to understand how Tanzanian youth make the most of the songs to participate in politics. Ngoma songs are referred to as songs that are chanted in community dances. In this chapter, six ngoma songs with political taste are analysed. The study employs the concept of ‘third space’ introduced by Bhabha (The Location of Culture. Routledge, London, 1994) to argue that youth in Tanzania use ngoma songs to call for good leadership and maintenance of peace and use them to convict leaders attempting to upset it. The study urges politicians to give a serious attention to the messages articulated by youth through their songs; they are the medium through which the political climate of their countries can be gauged.

Different African music genres are enjoyed by people all over the world. Most African music artists are doing their best to compose great music which is appreciated by people all over the world. Interestingly, diverse Zimbabwean indigenous popular music artists are composing songs which are also appreciated by people throughout the world. Computerized music and music technology are being embraced by modern music artists in Zimbabwe and this is helping improve the different Zimbabwe indigenous popular music genres. Computerized music and music technology are being embraced and good indigenous popular music is being composed. Modern music in Zimbabwe is slowly taking centre stage because many compositions are being made available and young and aspiring artists are proactive in composing interesting and good quality indigenous popular music genres. In some countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and so on, different African popular music genres are also being composed and marketed to countries all over the world. Different indigenous African popular music genres are appreciated by different age groups in Zimbabwe because to them, indigenous popular music speaks about their cultural lives. Therefore, modern music has gained popularity and value in Zimbabwe.

The chapter argues that Zimdancehall music can be read as a discourse laying the ‘rules of engagement’ for normative heterosexual encounters. Sexual intercourse is an important arena on which gender relations are performed. Music can provide important insights into how power relations are enacted during the sexual act. It is therefore imperative to unpack the dominant images and metaphors used by Zimdancehall artists to represent the ‘ideal’ or ‘perfect’ pleasurable sexual experience. Using critical discourse analysis as an analytical framework, the chapter argues that sexual intercourse is much more than the ‘innocent’ intimate interaction between two individuals. Rather, sexual encounters are power-driven transactions in which the goal is total domination. Issues relating to ‘roughness’, infliction of pain, duration and total surrender, among others, are critical in determining the success of the sexual encounter. This is critical particularly in exposing otherwise taken-for-granted forms of gender-based violence that may continue to go unnoticed and/or unchecked. Songs for analysis were selected through purposive sampling in which songs that speak to the sexual encounter were considered.

Benue state—Nigeria, promotes one of Nigeria’s internationally renowned traditional theatre troupes. The state has rich indigenous tradi-modern musical talent—which is an increasingly popular hi-tech digital studio sound with Tiv, Idoma, Igede and Etolo renditions. The resulting “tradi-modern” music positively resonates beyond Benue. Benue state government also has shown interest in Benue tradi-modern music towards positive cultural, economic and political developmental drives. Public and private entities in Benue have also boosted the efforts of tradi-modern Benue artists such as Bongos Ikwe, Tuface, Zakki-Azzay, Bravo-D, David Abeker, ODWoods, ZuleZoo, Jumabee, Mark Own, and Rapizo, among others. This chapter covers tradi-modern music ingenuity. The dominant themes addressed in tradi-modern musical genre include level/quality of support experienced and enjoyed by Benue tradi-modern music artists. This chapter directs attention towards finding the developmental influence of Benue tradi-modern music. Indeed, this secondary and primary research-based chapter contributes to the generally expanding field of afro-centric tradi-modern music and the relative relationship with the constantly changing digital media and socio-realities, as well as indigenous mass culture. Relative findings hopefully encourage contemporary interest in meeting points between modern musical digital capacities, digital media and local cultures—especially how such synergies can be harvested towards positive social changes.

Music producers in pro-studios enjoyed autonomy and influenced goings-on in the recording industry in Zimbabwe. The operating terrain within the Zimbabwe recording industry has drastically changed owing to the advent of digital recording technology. Their hegemony has slackened due to the emergence of home studios which have liberated musicians through accepting different music genres. In this chapter, we explore the changes in roles of the music producer from the old school pro-studios which operated from the 1970s to modern-day home studios which emerged at the turn of the millennium. We conducted semi-structured interviews with studio owners, producers and musicians. As players in the industry, we also did participant observation within the Zimbabwean recording industry. Music producers of the digital era are equipped to do real musical instrument playing, MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) sequencing, mixing, mastering and marketing. Modern technological developments directly impact the modus operandi to determine the relevance and business viability of producers in the Zimbabwe recording industry.

Piracy used to be the singular most recognized threat to the creative industry especially in the musical setting with indigenous African popular music also badly affected. Today, the tide of the music industry in terms of its economy is no doubt bowing to the dictates of change. The impact of the digital economy on consumption of music and music economy is enormous. Now, music could be shared freely since the advent of the internet. Thus, the entire industry faces the onslaught of the latest development in web technology. This chapter looks at the totality of contemporary music economics, especially how the era of web technology has either positively or negatively impacted indigenous African music. What is the new face of indigenous African music economy? How do modern-day musicians manage to remain in business despite the dwindling fortunes of the music economy? What are the modern means of generating revenue in the musical industry? These are some of the miseries this chapter unravels. Online survey method was employed to gauge respondent’s perspective on the new form of music economy. Relevant theories were employed.

The expansion and modification of capitalism globally and over centuries had enormous transformations on the production, consumption and distribution of music all over the world. The African arts and culture, including popular music, have not been immune to these changes. This chapter documents and examines the influence of neoliberal and digital capitalism on Oviritje music genre of the Ovaherero people of Namibia. It attempts to locate the position of this genre in the global capitalist music economy. Furthermore, the chapter documents the emergence and development of the genre and illuminates its original public interest value. It also provides a preliminary critique of Oviritje songs. The chapter draws heavily on a host of critical literature for its theoretical argument that guides the empirical discussion. The work is exploratory and attempts to encourage critical music analysis in the digital age in Africa, and Namibia in particular.

The unprecedented attacks on human lives in the North-Eastern parts of Nigeria have affected the cultural fabric of its people. There is a growing fear that as more villages get evacuated, some of its rich cultural traditions get eroded. Also, many popular indigenous musicians are separated from their roots and their cultural heritage is lost. Hence, there is the tendency that more of such indigenous music performances might be at risk of extinction due to recurring conflicts. This chapter discusses the preservation of disappearing indigenous musical heritage for the retention of originality of cultural elements through sound archiving. Therefore, in order to maintain the unique identity of North-Eastern indigenous popular music, musical performances have to be documented through sound archiving as a means of repatriation for posterity and reaching out to a wider audience. The chapter proposes that taking advantage of current technological developments can be used in preserving some of the aspirations of the musicians who are recorded. The methodological approach of this chapter is purely text review and conceptual basis. The collection of indigenous music performances could serve as building blocks for cultural and political revival and movements in the BAY States.