shainhouse Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Hey ya'll. Hope all is well across the pond. I have a really interesting final paper that I'm working on and I need some advice/opinions from you guys. The question is: 'discuss the role of popular music in west africa. what effect has it had on local music making? are 'traditional musicians' selling out??? what are your thoughts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorgnor Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Authenticity is arbitrary... what are they actively participating in and why? That's your answer. Focus on social pressures that are actually defining style such as recording techniques or the distribution networks and who they're reaching. Sounds pretty cool. Check out Negus - Popular Music in Theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1979 Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 the beauty of influence of north american music culture - - - a land of opportunity - traditional musicians are not selling out - they are searching for pure music from other cultures that would explain new songs today - it all boils down to what extent globalization has achieved on music we all listen to now - i hope i'm making sense - let me know to explain more on these thoughts - - western African music is pure form - how does it connect with North American culture and how musicians apply this influence in their own traditional music? - would an extra note or sound bring in an extra thousand bucks??? - depends on how heavy the influence is from other cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 My African drummer teacher was pretty upset that there was hardly any traditional drummers left in Mali, they were all playing reggae now. He wanted to open a school for traditional African drumming, but I don't know if he ever did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassedOutGuy Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 you could always include some of the Dave and Trey in Africa stuff... i believe West africa was where they headed to play with a local act... not really selling out as much as experiencing new culture i think... not that that helps too much... good luck on the paper Shain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokonon Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 ricky went to ghana a couple years ago and he says that there are both pop and traditional groups there. he played with a group that were quite traditional even though they were well aware of the more popular modern styles. they also knew that pop musicians made more money but they still played traditional music. there will always be a purist element and there will always be more modern aspects to music anywhere. that is how new genres develop. the blues was once a modern and controversial style of music, and now it forms the backbone of much of today's music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shainhouse Posted November 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 It seems that after further discussion with my Prof, I have to focus entirely on the isolated pop music industry that exists in West Africa and keep it away from it's influences/infiltration into our western pop music world. You guys have all made some interesting points and I fully appreciate them. I'm in for an uphill but interesting climb in the coming days. I guess I have to find the answer to the question that is someone like Fela Kuti selling out by bringing jazz into traditional music or is he experimenting? Would he have make less money being a tradtional juju/yoruban artist and what Nigerian music consumers actually think about it. I'm going to be exploring Manu Dibangu, Ali Farka Toure and Youssou N'Dour as well as seperate case studies within the final paper. so many ideas. good course... this essay is worth 80%! so I better get going on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from Cleveland Posted November 22, 2004 Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 Don't know if this will help or not, but you could check out http://www.antibalas.com/ it's the websit for the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, and I know that Fela Kuti had a huge impact on what they're doing. It might have some info on it that you could use, or perhaps you could contact members of the band and get their opinions on your topic? LIke I said, not sure if it would help, but I know that they are influenced by west african music in particular, so I thought it might help ya. Good luck... Steve from C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shainhouse Posted November 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 I study Communications and Multimedia at McMaster but it translates into Communications and Music at Leeds. This is my world music requirement. There is a performance elements too... It's fun but extremely challenging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevO Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 In second year I took a course called world music - the class basically focused a lot of attention on how African music principles (call answer, 2/4 etc) have influenced western music. I believe that the text book we used was called 'Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples' Hey, I have that book and want to sell it! Do I hear $20?? (I paid well over $100 for it 2 years ago.) I won't hold my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palms Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 I'm interested in that book. Find out how much shipping will be to Hamilton. Also, are the CDs included and in good condition still. Shainhouse - trackdown the afrostrut compilation Nigeria 70 - I think the 3rd CD (a radio show documentary) may be helpful to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevO Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 or buy it off me: i live in hamilton and my prices are probably better, and hey i'm a fellow skank like you! hehe. i will have a look for the CDs -- I'm not sure if i still have them or not. the book is in great condition. hard cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 I realize the essay question is about west Aftrica, but South Africa, and in particular Johannesburg, had and still has a thriving jazz scene - it's been thriving since the 50's. Some international artists that are worth checking out are trumpet and flugelhorn master Hugh Masekela and piano great Abdullah Ibrahim ( aka Dollar Brand ). I saw a great documentary about South African jazz and the influence of North American pop culture ( in terms of black acceptence in the SA film industry ) last spring at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto. It's called: Amandla! A Revolution In Four-Part Harmony. Try to find it on DVD. It's educational and entertaining, with great performaces. The film is a real eye and ear-opener to be sure. Here's the review from All Music Guide: http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:261165 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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