Popular Music (August 19, 2006)

Recently we all had lunch at Cecilia's house. Cecilia is a customs officer on the border. There were two competing theories that were bandied about that afternoon. That good music is created in one of two atmospheres:

1. Under extreme oppression/civil war
2. Under extreme boredom

That said, three of my favorite artists here have been Chameleon, Tony, and Jua Kali. Chameleon is a rapper from Uganda, Tony is a traditional Luo artist from the Nyanza area, and I have no idea where Jua Kali come from, but they seem to tour wherever I go. There is something incredibly clever about their lyrics, but also in their beats. All three have a strong background in melding traditional melodies with ragga, hip hop, and basic beat-matching, but they are all so much fun to listen to. That said, I cannot seem to find a music store anywhere that has their CDs. One of the most popular forms of music dispersion, aside from the radio, is via music videos available on bootlegged VCDs.

Of course, there are artists who are way more popular here than these three. For example, German Eurotrash bands seem to be particularly popular, and everyone plays their songs at weddings, during work, and while entertaining. These are bands who would not have been popular 20 years ago, despite the fact that their style is very much New Kids on the Block inspired. The fact that they can't carry a note in a bucket or write a coherent lyric doesn't seem to matter much, and it makes me wonder how widespread their East African following is.

We're lucky to be big enough that bands come through about once/month. We haven't all been able to get organized together, but I am definitely looking forward to my first super-live concert (I did hear Tony live once, but I don't think this counts since I was in the lobby and could not pay the cover to get into the bar where he was performing).