South Africa: Music
Allie Koplan
World History- Hjelmgren
May 20, 2009, Period 7
South Africa: Music
“House of Holy Afro is much more of a brand-new, confrontational, in-your-face African vibe” quoted from Brett Bailey in an article about how music is changing modern South Africa (McDonald). Starting with traditional tribal music, to new, popular and funky music, South Africa is being affected by the change in the media. Music has had a positive effect on South Africa.
Although he has had to break laws to get the message across, Johnny Clegg has been an important figure in modern South African music. Johnny’s mother was a jazz singer which influenced his strong love for music since he was a young boy (Mengel). As he would fight to express himself through music, he was not allowed to express himself because of the color of his skin. He has broken barriers of the music industry by being a black musical export (Mengel). By doing what he did, Clegg allowed many musical breakthroughs in South Africa, although what he did and believed is still not supported as his music is currently not played on the radio (Mengel). His influence on South African music has had a great effect on people as now more and more young and striving artists can express their musical freedom without any problems. Because Clegg is a black African, he was not respected in the musical industry and disrespected for his love and devotion to many different types of music.
Music in Africa has strived as tribal culture has been modified to be accepted by the young South Africans of today (McDonald). Converting Churches to “Holy Houses” has had a positive impact on South Africa as social and political messages are being less popular. Making tribal and ancient music funky and fresh, the spirit of the young South Africans for their country are being revamped(McDonald). Created by Brett Bailey in the Cape Town area, the respect for Africa has increased as ancient culture is being reintroduced to the younger generations.
As more and more South Africans try, music is being seen more as a positive impact on South Africa more and more every day. By fighting for free expression of music and creating places of culture in a new form will change the newer generations by showing them respect for their country and teaching that you can fight for your rights. Music is a right for people to have, so as people keep fighting for their rights, those who fight get a positive result.
Annotated Bibliography
Ansell, Gwen. "Jazz." Global Issues in Context. 2 Apr. 2009. Gale Cengage Learning. 19 May 2009 <http://ntesx01-lic.nths.net:2094/gic/dispHomePage.do?prodId=GIC&userGroupName=winn16583>. This site gave me another perspective on the music in South Africa. It gave me information on the importance of music and how people interact with it today.
McDonald, Patrick. "Out of Africa." LexisNexis(TM). 10 Jan. 2009. 19 May 2009 <http://ntesx01-lic.nths.net:2052/scholastic/?_m=f5ff4d2a33ae28055fb58517080961e8&wchp=dGLbVtz-zSkVk&_md5=9a0d1b4408d00e472a80c9c42c70c5fe>. This site also provided information about how music is effecting modern South Africa. It also gives opinions of people as they talk about music in South Africa.
Mengel, Noel. "Breaking the Barriers." LexisNexis(TM). 16 May 2009. 19 May 2009. This site helped me with information about how people in South Africa interact with music and their take on the topic.
Last updated by Allie Koplan, May 22,2009
