Mzungu Kichaa and the Figuring of Identity in "Bongo Fleva" Music in Tanzania
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Date
2011-06
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Abstract
This article draws from Gilles
Deleuze and Felix Guattari's
notion of refrain and Louise
Meintjes' concept of music figure
and examines various ways a
Danish-born Bongo Fleva musi-
cian in Tanzania, Mzungu Kichaa
deploys music figures to con-
struct African and Tanzanian
identities. It also examines how
he uses these figures to negotiate
his position in relation to these
identities. To illustrate the perform-
ative effects of music figures on
people's identities the article
examines how the deployment of
musical figures serves a double
function: to claim one's Tanza-
nian or African identity and to
announce one's difference with
other identities (e.g. European or
English identities) at least with
regard to musical taste. As a
result, Mzungu Kichaa's attempts
to enter into the mainstream UK's
and Danish music industry were
not successful since the music
figures he used, the figures that
justified his identity as a Tanza-
nian or African, occupied margi-
nal spaces in European contexts.
Description
Keywords
Bongo Fleva, Mzungu Kichaa, music of Tanzania, Hip Hop and Rap Music, Popular Music and Identity, Music Figures, Deleuze and Guattari
Citation
Sanga, Imani. "Mzungu Kichaa and the Figuring of Identity in" Bongo Fleva" Music in Tanzania." International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music (2011): 189-208.