Beyond The Classroom: Music of Sub-Saharan Africa

 History of the Djembe

After listening to the music of Africa, it becomes clear to listeners that African music is full of lots of complex rhythms. Since African music is so dependent upon polyrhythms, they use a wide range of different kinds of percussive instruments ranging from drums, shakers, and even body percussion. One of the instruments that is used frequently in African music is the djembe. I originally began researching to djembe with the intention of learning more about how they were made. While I was researching, I learned that the djembe has a really interesting history.

Originally, blacksmiths were the people that would make the djembes. Before the blacksmith could cut down the tree to make a djembe, they would make a sacrifice to ask the tree if they could cut it down to make a djembe drum. One piece of information that I found interesting is that djembes can be different sizes. Each djembe would be sized specifically for each drummer. Once the drum was complete, the blacksmith would deliver it to the drummer. Typically, the people who were having drums made were the jeli. (You may also know them as the griots. They're the storytellers/musicians in African communities) I learned that traditionally, only certain people were allowed to play the djembe drum. You had to have a certain caste (family name) in order to play the djembe drum. The thing that I found most interesting is that the Africans believed that drums have three spirits. The spirit of the drum, the spirit of the animal whose skin is in the drumhead, and the spirit of the person who carved the drum. Many people also believe there is one final and most important spirit present in the drum which is the spirit of the ancestors.

Djembes come in many sizes!

Gota Dance

For my next area of research, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the different dances they do in Africa. In Ghana, one of the dances they do is called the Gota Dance. The Gota dance is a dance that is typically danced in pairs - male and female. As we have learned, percussion is very important in African music. In the Gota dance, the drummer is in charge of the entire dance. During the dance, the drummers stop playing the drums abruptly. When the music stops, all of the dancers freeze and hold their positions until the music begins playing again. Gota dancing was used to encourage couples dancing and is now done at social gatherings. Even though Gota is the only form of dance I researched for the purposes of this blog, there are several other kinds of dance such as mbira dance, indlamu dance, and kalela dance. All of the different dances are from different places in Africa and are done for different purposes and different social settings. I had a blast researching African dance and hope this serves as launchpad for further research. 

Asa

Lastly, as a part of my continuous efforts to diversify my playlists, I decided to search for some new music artists that are from Africa. In my search, I came across a Nigerian French artist named Asa. Even though Asa was born in Paris, her parents were both Nigerian. When she was two-year-old, Asa's family moved back to Lagos, Nigeria where she grew up. Asa was signed by a record label in France called Naive records and she released herself titled album in 2007. Since the release of her first album, Asa has released a total of four studio albums. Asa's most recent studio album was released in 2019 and is titled "Lucid". 

Asa is an absolute joy to listen to. Her lyrics are captivating, and the timbre of her voice is smooth like honey. One of the reasons I enjoy listening to Asa's music is because it is so syncretic. In any number of her songs, you can hear jazz, reggae, and pop influences. All of these different genres blend together into music that is uniquely Asa. Another reason I enjoy listening to Asa's music is because sometimes she sings in in Yoruba which is a language spoken by many Nigerians. Even though I don't know exactly what she is saying, Asa sings with so much expression that I still know what emotions she's trying to convey. Picking just one song to share with you was too hard so (somehow) I was able to narrow it down to two songs. I hope you enjoy!

Thank you for learning about African music and dance with me! I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day! 

Love and light always, 

-Michaela Faye

Sources

-, D., By, -, & Dreamafrica. (2021, October 29). 10 popular traditional African dances you should know. Dream Africa. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.thedreamafrica.com/10-popular-traditional-african-dances-you-should-know/#:~:text=10%20Popular%20Traditional%20African%20Dances%20You%20Should%20Know,9%20Kizomba%20Dance.%20...%2010%20Mbira%20Dance.%20

 (2020, August 10). Cultural dance and their meaning - the gota dance. Tsirkormpam Dance Theatre. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://tsirkormpam.org/2020/08/10/cultural-dance-and-their-meaning-the-gota-dance/

ASA biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2022, from https://www.allmusic.com/artist/asa-mn0001024291/biography

Cable News Network. (2011, November 30). Meet Asa, African pop legend in the making. CNN. Retrieved January 15, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2011/11/29/world/africa/av-africa-pop-stars/index.html

Gota. GTActivity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://gtactivity.ca/activity/4008

History of the djembe. DrumConnection World Djembe & Drum Shop. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.drumconnection.com/africa-connections/history-of-the-djembe/

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, December 30). Aṣa. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 15, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%E1%B9%A3a#:~:text=Asa%20is%20a%20Nigerian%20songwriter%2C%20recording%20artist%2C%20and,net%20worth%20of%20%2428%20million.%20Discography%20Studio%20albums