Roots Reggae and African Literature

What does Roots Reggae have to do with African Literature?

There is a lot of power in roots reggae. The way that the songwriters evoke the ancient psalms of David. These songs stand to remind the listener of the Rastamen who either wrote or influenced many of the songs of their strong belief in God and that all righteousness and justice comes from him. Growing up in the middle of already oppressive colonial European cultures, this harsh reminder of Christian moral tradition was not met with open arms but backlash. Many of the Rastas who moved to Britain or America from Jamaica were treated with outright racism and suspicion. This was then reflected in many of the reggae songs of the late 70's and early 80's. Songs like "Taxi Driver" by Steel Pulse as well as many others.

While the Rasta culture is not only a direct result of deep Christian influences but also of the even deeper collective memory of the multicultural African backgrounds of the slaves that were brought to work the cane fields of Jamaica. This deep memory of the Rasta's homeland is constantly on the mouths of the Rasta, especially in songs like "400 Years" by Bunnie Wailer. The more mainstream hit "Exodus" by Bob Marley also shares this theme. For this reason, I choose this genre of music to help deepen our understanding of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and the play "Woza Albert" by Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngema.

Things Fall Apart

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Pomp and Pride

I chose this song, by Toots and the Maytals to illustrate the opening of the book. Here we are met with quite the description of the main character of the novel, Okonkwo. He is in the prime of his life, is known throughout the village as well as surrounding area, and is also quite the wrestler. Okonkwo has all of this, but still can't seem to shake the memory of his father Unoka who was almost the polar opposite of Okonkwo. This catchy tune carries the feeling of pride that Okonkwo desperately wants you to feel when you see him.

Pressure Drop

This next song, also by Toots and the Maytals, illustrates Okonkwo's growing worries as he becomes more and more alienated by his village to the point of expulsion. I chose this song out of a deep desire to sing it to Okonkwo to try to let him know that he has no one to blame but himself really. The song reminds the listener over and over again, that it is they who are the ones that caused the turmoil that is befalling them. Okonkwo was given an out by the members of his tribe and did not have to execute Ikemefuna, however he did and he suffered greatly for it.

Downpressor Man

Finally, Okonkwo has come to the end of his rope. We see that he has fallen as far as he is willing to go before his own hubris gets the best of him and he can no longer go on. His main flaw is that that he cannot face the fact of his village being overrun by the white settlers as this goes against his ideas of what it means to be a man. In “Downpressor Man” Tosh illustrates a world where the person the speaker is singing to is in a state much like Okonkwo at the end of this novel. The song draws many images of the end times from the biblical Book of Revelation, in some ways Okonkwo sees his time is at an end, and decides that he cannot face the music.

“Woza Albert”

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54-46 Was My Number

Not only is this one of my favorite songs, but it also is a perfect accompaniment to a scene in which a man is unjustly imprisoned for doing absolutely nothing wrong. The song is autobiographical as Toots was actually held in prison for some time on trumped up charges, as Mbongeni is also taken in on trumped up charges. The song, much like the opening scene of the play, is very catchy and immediately pulls the listener in to it. However, these catchy lyrics do not take away from nature of the subject matter they are singing about.

007 Shanty Town

          This very catchy tune almost dares you to dance with its beat from the moment that it comes on. Again, the catchy nature of the song almost masks the underlying subject matter of gang violence in the streets of the shanty town that Dekker is singing about. This song best fits alongside the scenes in the play where the South African establishment is trying to cover up the effects of apartheid on the working Black South Africans. In “Woza” we see a dystopian South Africa gripped by apartheid and the effects of that oppressive system are explicitly described in this song.

Apartheid

                Tosh obviously deals with the injustice that apartheid held the native Black South Africans in for years. Tosh’s song deals with a litany of injustices, and his opening of the recorded version with the sounds of machine guns and bombs, is reminiscent of scene twenty-four in the play when the military tries to bomb Jesus, but fails. Even though it is obvious that Tosh deals more with apartheid directly the song still reflects the overall militant and subversive tone of the play.