Over on Lithub, Ashawnta Jackson talked to Christian Adofo, Liam Brickhill, and Lior Phillips About the African Continent’s Diverse Soundscape For #ReadingAfrica. She quotes David Byrne, who claims that music is dangerous and agrees: "Yes, music is dangerous. It holds in all of the things we’re sometimes too afraid to say out loud. It speaks to hope, to despair, to love, to longing. It brings back sweet memories of days past and the exciting thrills of days to come." Head on over to Lithub for the discussion!
Here at Maverick Book Review, Jackson supplements that article with a list of must-read books about Black Music and African Music.
--Jessica Powers
South African Popular Music by Lior Phillips
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
From the publisher: From the storied ache of mbube harmonies of the '40s to the electronic boom of kwaito and the amapiano and house explosion of the '00s, this book explores vignettes taken from across South Africa's popular music history. There are moments in time where music can be a mighty weapon in the fight for freedom. Disguised in a danceable hook or shouted for the world to hear, artists have used songs to deliver important truths and bring listeners together in the face of a segregated reality. In the grip of the brutal apartheid era, South Africa crafted its own idiosyncratic popular musical vernacular that operated both as sociopolitical tool and realm of escape. In a country with 11 official languages, music had the power to unite South Africans in protest. Artists bloomed a new idyll from the branches of countless storied musical traditions, and in turn found themselves banned or exiled-the profound epiphany that music can exist both within the pleasure of itself and for serving a far greater purpose.
Buy here.
A Quick Ting On Afrobeats by Christian Adofo
Publisher: Jacaranda Books
From the publisher: Afrobeats is a fast-growing genre, one that has carved out a distinct and powerful Black identity rooted within the African continent. The first book of its kind, A Quick Ting On: Afrobeats chronicles the social and cultural development of the eponymous music genre, tracing its rich history from the African continent all the way to the musical centre of the Western world.This exciting new book takes a unique look at the music of the African diaspora and their children, delving into how Afrobeats and its sub-genres have provided new articulations of Black identity and pride. It remembers the Afrobeats pioneers and memorable cultural moments, as well as investigating the impact of African migration, travel and modernisation on the genre. A Quick Ting On: Afrobeats provides an insightful look at how Afrobeats became the explosive music genre it is today.
Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music by Angélique Kidjo
Publisher: Harper
From the publisher: Grammy Award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo is known for her electrifying voice and fearless advocacy work. In this intimate memoir, she reveals how she escaped Communist Africa to make her dreams a reality, and how she's prompting others all around the world to reach for theirs as well. Born in the West African nation of Benin, Angélique Kidjo grew up surrounded by the rich sounds, rhythms, and storytelling of traditional Beninese culture. When the Communists took over, they silenced her dynamic culture and demanded that she sing in praise of them. In Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music, Angélique reveals the details of her dangerous escape into France, and how she rose from poverty to become a Grammy Award–winning artist and an international sensation at the top of Billboard's World Albums chart. She also explains why it's important to give back by sharing stories from her work as a UNICEF ambassador and as founder of the Batonga Foundation, which gives African girls access to education. Desmond Tutu has contributed the foreword to this remarkable volume; Alicia Keys has provided an introduction. Her eloquent, inspiring narrative is paired with more than one hundred colorful photographs documenting Angélique's life and experiences, as well as a sampling of recipes that has sustained her on her remarkable odyssey.
The Music of Black Americans and Readings in Black American Music by Eileen Southern.
Publisher: W&W Norton & Co
From the Publisher, The Music of Black Americans: Beginning with the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies, Eileen Southern weaves a fascinating narrative of intense musical activity. As singers, players, and composers, black American musicians are fully chronicled in this landmark book. Now in the third edition, the author has brought the entire text up to date and has added a wealth of new material covering the latest developments in gospel, blues, jazz, classical, crossover, Broadway, and rap as they relate to African American music. Over 50 photographs
Buy The Music of Black Americans here.
From the publisher, Readings in Black American Music: In this companion volume to The Music of Black Americans, Eileen Southern draws on letters, journals, memoirs, ledgers, books, articles, and even slave advertisements in newspapers to illuminate the story told that historical survey, now in its Third Edition. The collection includes documents dating from early America through the twentieth century. Monumental figures such as Frederick Douglass, Solomon Northrup, W. E. B. DuBois, W. C. Handy, Ethel Waters, Dizzy Gillespie, Imamu Baraka, and Martha Jackson are represented, as are several complete musical works, by Francis Johnson and others.
Buy Readings in Black American Music here.
From Ashawnta Jackson (AJ): Eileen Southern is not African, nor are these books solely focused on African music (which you can tell by the titles), but Southern's work is foundational in musicology, giving rise to the serious study of Black music and African music. Both books begin with the music of the continent and how it has shaped Black American music. I wrote about her here.
Emergent Quilombos: Black Life and Hip-Hop in Brazil by Bryce Henson
Publisher: University of Texas Press
From the publisher: How disenfranchised Black Brazilians use hip-hop to reinvigorate the Black radical tradition. Known as Black Rome, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, is a predominantly Black city. The local art, food, and dance are closely linked to the population’s African roots. Yet many Black Brazilian residents are politically and economically disenfranchised. Bryce Henson details a culture of resistance and activism that has emerged in response, expressed through hip-hop and the social relations surrounding it. Based on years of ethnographic research, Emergent Quilombos illuminates how Black hip-hop artists and their circles contest structures of anti-Black racism by creating safe havens and alternative social, cultural, and political systems that serve Black people. These artists valorize and empower marginalized Black peoples through song, aesthetics, media, visual art, and community action that emphasize diasporic connections, ancestrality, and Black identifications in opposition to the anti-Black Brazilian nation. In the process, Henson argues, the Salvador hip-hop scene has reinvigorated and reterritorialized a critical legacy of Black politicocultural resistance: quilombos, maroon communities of Black fugitives who refused slavery as a way of life, gathered away from the spaces of their oppression, protected their communities, and nurtured Black life in all its possibilities.
From AJ: Again, not Africa. But the roots that were planted in the continent have created branches throughout the diaspora.
African: A Children’s Picture Book by Peter Tosh (song lyrics) and Rachel Moss (illustrator)
Publisher: Akashic Books
From the publisher: African is a children's book featuring lyrics by Peter Tosh and illustrations by Jamaican artist Rachel Moss. The song "African" by Peter Tosh was originally released in 1977 on his second solo record, Equal Rights. He wrote the song during a time of civil unrest in Jamaica as a reminder to all black people that they were part of the same community. The album is considered one of the most influential reggae works of all time.
From AJ: Same as above--not Africa, but the roots planted have created branches throughout the diaspora.
Nigeria: The Cover Art of Nigerian Music by Stuart Baker (Editor)
Publisher: Soul Jazz Books
From the publisher: An incredible collection of vibrant Nigerian record cover designs from the second half of the 20th century, most of which have never been seen outside of Africa. This unique large-format book features hundreds and hundreds of unique and stunning record sleeve designs from Nigeria that span a period from the country’s independence in 1960 through much of the second half of the 20th century―a time in which Nigerian artists and the Nigerian music industry thrived both at home and abroad.During this period, high-profile Nigerian artists such as Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Sonny Okosun, Haruna Ishola, Oriental Brothers International Band, Tony Allen, Blo and Chief Ebenezer Obey became national and international stars. Many more Nigerian artists established successful careers at home and yet remain virtually unknown outside of Nigeria to this day.This book features the most important Nigerian artists both at home and abroad (as well as many of those that have remained unknown outside of the country), bringing together a vast array of rare, classic and stunning visual sleeve designs that document more than 50 years of the amazing musical, graphic art and social history of Nigeria.
From AJ: This one isn't out until January 2025, and I can't wait. Nigerian music from the 1960s and 70s is very important to me, and also shows that the artistic transfer from Africa to America moves both ways. Buy here.
Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos by Gary Stewart
Publisher: Verso Books
From the publisher: There had always been music along the banks of the Congo River—lutes and drums, the myriad instruments handed down from ancestors. But when Joseph Kabasele and his African Jazz went chop for chop with O.K. Jazz and Bantous de la Capitale, music in Africa would never be the same. A sultry rumba washed in relentless waves across new nations springing up below the Sahara. The Western press would dub the sound soukous or rumba rock; most of Africa called in Congo music. Born in Kinshasa and Brazzaville at the end of World War II, Congon music matured as Africans fought to consolidate their hard-won independence. In addition to great musicians—Franco, Essous, Abeti, Tabu Ley, and youth bands like Zaiko Langa Langa—the cast of characters includes the conniving King Leopold II, the martyred Patrice Lumumba, corrupt dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, military strongman Denis Sassou Nguesso, heavyweight boxing champs George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, along with a Belgian baron and a clutch of enterprising Greek expatriates who pioneered the Congolese recording industry.
From AJ: This year was the 50th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle, which also means that it was the anniversary of Zaire 74, an incredible festival that was originally set to be part of the festivities surrounding the fight. An injury (Foreman's) delayed the fight, but as they say, the show must go on.
--Listicle by Ashawnta Jackson
Ashawnta Jackson, formerly publicity director at indie publisher Catalyst Press, is the author of Soul-Folk, part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 Genre series, and is at work on a book on Black-owned record labels set for release in 2027 by WW Norton.
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