“Now, you see musicians singing about girls, money and fast cars.
#SONGS ABOUT CHANGE FULL#
The band’s two singers, with full horn section, throbbing bass and rhythmic percussion, create sound, including jazz that keeps audiences grooving all night, while the messages come through loud and clear. A unique pan-Africanism stems from the band’s use of music originally recorded across Africa, which it performs in its own unique style. Its musical influences include Senegalese mbalak, Nigerian Afro-beat and Mozambican marrabenta. The Sigauque Project is a band based in Maputo, Mozambique, whose music is all about raising issues and trying to bring about change. In Africa a variety of NGOs, bands and activists are trying to make a difference through music. This makes music the perfect partner for social change. The combination of the right lyrics, rhythm and instruments can build a group identity, stir strong emotions, engage audiences and amass people to take action. And some up-and-coming musicians are also lending their voices to protests against crime, human rights violations, xenophobia and much more. In Benin, UNICEF goodwill ambassador Angélique Kidjo keeps a strong note of social concern in her lyrics-singing about hunger, homelessness, AIDS and injustice. Oliver Mtukudzi’s music has created awareness and dialogue around HIV and AIDS in his home country Zimbabwe. Known throughout the world, Youssou N’Dour is a musical peacemaker in his native Senegal and lends his words and music to critical campaigns, such as malaria prevention programmes. There are, however, still musicians who hope that their words will inspire change. Yet we see fewer and fewer people taking to the streets with picket signs because of its messages. With today’s technology, music has become even more of a part of our life experiences: we listen to it on our drive to work, when we go to parties, while we study, when we exercise, and in so many other settings. The anti-apartheid and government-challenging lyrics of musicians like South Africa’s Miriam Makeba and Nigeria’s Fela Kuti have largely been exchanged for party-hard, live-the-rich-life lyrics. Much rarer are the antiwar sentiments of composers like Bob Dylan of the USA. Yet today’s music mostly does not seem to have the same earth-moving, society-shaping effects as that of the past. Do you ever listen to a song and find yourself moved so deeply you are almost in tears? Have you ever been to a live performance that turned your worst day into your best? Have you ever heard a song that inspired you? Music has the power to move us and to change us.
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