Benin Research Paper

The Ghana empire held power approximately between 830 and 1230 ( ). The empire arouse beside the Niger river, situated between gold and salt mines. Located in what we know now as the southeastern Mauritania,

Senegal rappers adopted the United States method of hip hop and recreated it in order to fit their culture. Using our first samples and making it suitable to be mixed in utilizing their “local musical elements” (Appert 4) is what separates them from us. Descendants of previous griot’s Senegal rappers are the current “historians” and “social commentators” of the country (Appert 10) that use their music to tell their stories to the people of Senegal just as their predecessors did years ago except without our modern-day rap music and beats. Senegal rappers decided to hold on to their more traditional style of instruments. The kora which when played the sound resembles the harp, and the balafon is used in place of the piano allowing them to

The Igbo have a rhythm of music which consists of drums, flute, Ogene, Igba, Ichaka and other instruments. When accompanied by vocals this style of music is called Ikorodo. Another popular musical form among the Igbo tribe is "Highlife," which is a fusion of jazz and traditional music and is widely popular in all of West Africa.

Dance has always been the focal point in which Africans are able to let free through movements of emotion. In this essay I will discuss the history of African Dance and its importance to the African Culture. Also will be discussing the general information of African dance, the different types of African dance and the ones that I like the most. Dance in the African culture is something that cannot be taken advantage of in the African Culture because it holds such a strong meaningful moment at the time of any occasion.

9. “Benin lost their faith in gods, their art deteriorated, and human sacrifice became more common.” (page 330)

a. Most of the collective music manifestations found in sub-Saharan Africa represent the community, and encourage group participation using a method that is called call-and-response. If they aren’t using a call-and-response such music’s are usually to be found at events such as religious ceremonies, and/or most other ritual based activities.

The African beats, the wind instruments and the rhythms that have been passed down through the

African influence is evident in African secular and religious practices, in instruments modeled after African instruments, and in the use of musical traits associated with Africa’s ethnic groups.

In Africa, music isn’t just something they see as having fun, it has become something greater. Africans use music in their everyday lives. It has become a social event, where African community’s come together and accompany songs with cultural beliefs, traditions, rituals, festivals and “recreation after a day’s hard work”(Bame, 7). For instance, in some communities it is believed farmers are able to heal people while dancing. Other’s dance to honor the death of a person, and find their soulmates.

Music in the western society is viewed as a separate commodity. Although American music attempts to convey messages and make changes in the society, it is not a highly essential part of their lives. On the other hand, African music is a natural expression of the identity and social values of people in Africa. Music is a cultural activity within the African communities that help people live together and communicate the major values of their social units. It is a tool that explains their existences and adds meaning to their lives.

In the article “Rock and Roll Unplugged”, the author talks about the significance and influence that African music and culture has on American and European culture. It opens with the origin of rock and roll coming from the African blues and explains how rock and roll is very popular in mainstream America. But many people are unaware that rock and roll and many other popular genres of music such as soul, funk, punk, disco, rap and hip hop are all an extension of African culture. The modification of Christian music that is present in African American churches is a result of the African slaves incorporating African culture, dance, and music into the traditional Christian music. It was documented that Africans had

In this essay, I will be examining the musical genre of Afrobeat which was created by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Afrobeat first came to be in the late 1960’s during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Fela Kuti a Nigerian, was able to create a genre that has change the way we view music today. Afrobeat is made up of two different words, “Afro” and “Beat”. “Afro” correlates with “African organized sound while beat is a rhythmic counting pattern in relation to such music” (Oikelome, 2013). Therefore, the meaning of Afrobeat is the unique African rhythmic patterns of such music. The coming of this genre is very interesting since the man behind it has quite a story.

In this course we have learned about all of the different cultures and their musical traditions. My favorite so far has had to be the west African music culture. They have a variety of different music, instruments, and dances to contribute to the reasons I liked this music culture so much. So, I have taken it upon myself to further my research on this particular musical group. I will compare and contrast a variety of different videos from the west African music culture and I will analyze how they connect to this culture.

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.

Scholars have attempted to define music, and to be quite honest, it will be a huge challenge to try to weave a definition around the art that is music, because it is beyond definition. However, for the purposes of this work, we shall adopt the definition by Aluede & Eregare (2009), not because the definition is, in itself, complete, but because it captures the very essence of what we look for in the definition of music. Music, according to Aluede & Aregare (2009), is not only an organization of sound but also a symbolic expression of a social and cultural organization, which reflects the values, past and present ways of life of human beings. Also, Jones (1975), cited in Amana and Onogu (2015), defines music as “a language which encodes emotions, aspirations and people’s goals in autonomous and self-expressive arts forms.” These definitions are important in understanding music, because they highlight the fact that music does not only appeal to the feel-good emotion, it is not only used for entertainment; it is a valid form of social expression and this underscores the centrality of music in African socio-cultural life.