The Musicscapes of a Country in Transition: Cultural Identity, Youth Agency, the Emergent Hip Hop Culture, and the Quest for Socio-Political Change in Sierra Leone

Abstract

The ethnomusicological study of the role of traditional and contemporary African music genres and their corresponding performance practice in the recreation of ethno-cultural and politico-nationalistic identity and people's agency in post-colonial Africa is not new. However, what remains under-researched, especially for countries in transition from conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, is the intersection among people's social histories, identities, and circumstantial situations in regard to influencing not only the nature of music genres but also in shaping the history, patterns, and impact of youth agency in the creation of an emergent, albeit contemporary, hip hop culture: music, performance practice, and lifestyle. In Sierra Leone, although pre-war and wartime socio-political activities had contributed to the creation of contested identities and social stereotypes of the youth, they have nonetheless been able to re-direct their social energies toward the use of music as a tool for social healing and socio-political change. Countless numbers of young people have succeeded in overcoming the challenges presented by many decades of economic hardship, negative social constructions around the image of being a youth, and by the decade-long civil war.