music

PAPER INFORMATION

Li

sten

to

Angélique Kidjo:

Remain

in

the

Light

in

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4RWSXCDIk9HDCAjRFTPVcn?si=Iy39wgoR

QiOpLVZHe6qQOQ

Angélique Kidjo is a West African pop singer songwriter with roots in West African

traditional music and r

ock and roll. In 1983 she left Benin, where she was born and raised,

and came to Paris (via the Netherlands). It was there she first heard the Talking Heads

recording Remain in the Light. She was struck by the very African

-

sounding rhythms of the

music. Sh

e noted that in her opinion, “…that’s not rock and roll, that’s African music!”

In 2018 Kidjo released her own version of Remain in the Light, with the songs set to

more authentic African rhythms. Listen to both recordings and address the follo

wing

questions in your paper:

·

What are the characteristics of the African music that Kidjo’s music is rooted in?

·

How does Kidjo’s version compare to the original Talking Heads version?

·

What elements do you hear that sound uniquely African, in either or bot

h?

·

What do you hear that is typical of Western pop/rock?

·

Given that there is a great deal of African influence in American music would you consider this

as an ironic reverse syncretism: Western rock being reunited with its African “roots”?

·

Compare this pr

oject with others that emphasize cross

-

cultural syncretism, for example, in the

work of Paul Simon,

Graceland,

“Rhythm of the Saints” or

Sting,

“Desert Rose”.

Three pages maximum including a bibliography.

When you write about music, write

about how you hear it. Be as specific as you can, but don't try and get all the

technical aspects correct. Let your ears and imagination be your guide.

To help you with this, read the chapter and listen to the examples in the "West

African Music" file below.

Read this chapter from the book "World Music:

Traditions and Transformations"

by Michael

Bakan, published

by McGraw Hill.

This will give you some solid background information that will

help you with the paper.

.

https://bb.wpunj.edu/bbcswebdav/pid

-

1997914

-

dt

-

content

-

rid

-

14614815_1/courses/201840

-

MUSI1150

-

81/bak25192_ch10_199

-

230_Au_rev1.pdf

The Playli

st

File list the listening examples by Soptify

Playlist

(PL) numbers. Just click

on the blue

hyperlink

and it will take you directly to the selection

PAPER INFORMATION

Listen to Angélique Kidjo: Remain in the Light in

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4RWSXCDIk9HDCAjRFTPVcn?si=Iy39wgoR

QiOpLVZHe6qQOQ

Angélique Kidjo is a West African pop singer songwriter with roots in West African

traditional music and rock and roll. In 1983 she left Benin, where she was born and raised,

and came to Paris (via the Netherlands). It was there she first heard the Talking Heads

recording Remain in the Light. She was struck by the very African-sounding rhythms of the

music. She noted that in her opinion, “…that’s not rock and roll, that’s African music!”

In 2018 Kidjo released her own version of Remain in the Light, with the songs set to

more authentic African rhythms. Listen to both recordings and address the following

questions in your paper:

 What are the characteristics of the African music that Kidjo’s music is rooted in?

 How does Kidjo’s version compare to the original Talking Heads version?

 What elements do you hear that sound uniquely African, in either or both?

 What do you hear that is typical of Western pop/rock?

 Given that there is a great deal of African influence in American music would you consider this

as an ironic reverse syncretism: Western rock being reunited with its African “roots”?

 Compare this project with others that emphasize cross-cultural syncretism, for example, in the

work of Paul Simon, Graceland, “Rhythm of the Saints” or Sting,“Desert Rose”.

Three pages maximum including a bibliography. When you write about music, write

about how you hear it. Be as specific as you can, but don't try and get all the

technical aspects correct. Let your ears and imagination be your guide.

To help you with this, read the chapter and listen to the examples in the "West

African Music" file below.

Read this chapter from the book "World Music: Traditions and Transformations" by Michael

Bakan, published by McGraw Hill. This will give you some solid background information that will

help you with the paper..

https://bb.wpunj.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1997914-dt-content-rid-14614815_1/courses/201840-

MUSI1150-81/bak25192_ch10_199-230_Au_rev1.pdf

The Playlist File list the listening examples by Soptify Playlist (PL) numbers. Just click on the blue

hyperlink and it will take you directly to the selection