Music 108 - The Power of Black Music

The course focuses on the musics of Africa and the African diaspora through the lens of ethnomusicology. Concentrating on selected countries, including Benin, Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United States, it examines the musical performance of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality and the role of music in social and political movements. The course examines the global dimensions and resonances of Africanist musical aesthetics as enabled historically and sustained through ongoing transatlantic exchanges between Africa and the African diaspora. The course also explores the issues of representation and identity in iconic works like Black Is King & Lemonade by Beyonce. Other topics include hip-hop adaptation in Africa and the phenomenal popularity of West African Afrobeats in the United States and globally. Class discussions will be supplemented by workshops conducted by visiting professional musicians as well as the instructor's ethnographic research in West Africa, Brazil, Cuba, and the United States.