During Ali Hasssan Mwinyi's presidency (1985–1995), Tanzania moved from a policy of socialism to one of neo-liberalism. Independent radio stations and newspapers were created, and foreign goods became accessible, including high-tech music equipment and music recordings and magazines. The impact on Tanzania's music industry was profound, transforming traditionally accepted roles of both musician and listener. Alex Perullo's Live from Dar es Salaam: Popular Music and Tanzania's Music Economy takes on the challenge of examining Tanzania's popular music in the context of that country's shift toward capitalism. The book offers insights into the multi-sided challenges of neoliberal globalisation, and opens new avenues for thinking about the often-imbalanced demands neoliberal globalisation places on African musicians.
A particular strength of this book is its promotion of music entrepreneurship as a multiple category, whose different forms, explored through Perullo's detailed ethnography, include education, radio broadcasting, recording and distribution. By framing entrepreneurship through these distinct practices, Perullo tackles the social, cultural and economic factors behind music entrepreneurship, and emphasises the shifting roles culture and creativity play in Tanzania's economy.
Live from Dar es Salaam opens with a historical outline of Tanzanian music, addressing the broader influences politics and economics have had on music making during the colonial and post-independence periods. As Perullo notes, prior to independence ‘sharp divisions did not exist between musical genres’ (p. 55). Rather, ngoma, dansi, taarab and kwaya were performed together on single programmes, attracting diverse audiences. This changed with independence, however, when ‘an explicit effort was made within the government's cultural policy to promote indigenous genres’ (p. 53). Some musics (like ngoma), ‘once touted as the music of Tanzanian people, began to be acknowledged for [their] “innate” socialist qualities’ (pp. 53–4), while others (like dansi), were deemed ‘foreign and, therefore, potentially not acceptable in post-independence reconstruction’ (p. 55).
When socialism ended in 1984 and ‘music [became] a resource of human creativity and financial gain’ (p. xi), musicians were again implicated in new and complex political and economic narratives. ‘[M]arketing the self [became] necessary to outcompete other performers’ (p. 109) as musicians assumed responsibilities of ‘booking agents, managers, publicists, producers and promoters, as well as lawyers and accountants’ (p. xiv). The process of learning music also changed: whereas traditional apprenticeships previously had been the norm, today's musicians, in an effort ‘to keep up with contemporary sounds, techniques, and songs’ (p. 159), sought informal measures that included band rehearsals and the individual study of available phonograph recordings and cassettes (p. 163).
Within a short 16 years (1994–2010), Tanzania was transformed into ‘one of the strongest music economies in all of Africa’ (p. xix). Although ‘creative practices are part of any economy … they are particularly prevalent in formerly socialist countries undergoing neoliberal reforms’ (p. 12), where, like Tanzania, there emerged ‘a consistent tension between those who believe in the ideas and behaviors of the socialist period that articulate an effort to build a strong, unified nation, while others become consumed by the wealth, status, and ways of life imagined in the West’ (p. 26). Perullo uses subsequent chapters to unravel that tension, pushing forward, case by case, a view of Tanzania's music economy that demonstrates the role it plays in the country's social life while outlining effective ways it can be effectively studied.
Timely is Perullo's examination into the dynamics of ‘pirate’ production and distribution, and of the longer-term implications if piracy continues. In Perullo's words, ‘Even though piracy initially expanded the commercialization of music in Tanzania, its continuation may undermine the future efficacy of the economy’ (p. 339). Musicians increasingly ‘are being encouraged within the music economy to protect their property through promoting authorship and ownership in music and lyrics of songs. Even rhythms, which typically cannot be protected in Western industries are being debated as something that can be owned and controlled among music producers’ (p. 23). ‘[M]usic distribution remains volatile and likely to impact all other areas of the economy in the future’ (p. 340), Perullo concludes, before adding that, ‘it is likely that the growth in digital piracy will push performers, composers, radio stations, promoters, producers and others to search for alternative means to benefit from music as both a commodity and a work of art’ (p. 340).
A particularly intriguing addition is the book's discussion of competition. Perullo exposes some of the unique contradictions and dilemmas of neoliberalism in Africa, showing how tradition and modernity – often perceived as separate realms – are indeed closely interlinked in Tanzanian social life. Perullo introduces a producer ‘who sabotaged his own equipment and frequently showed up late to unlock his studio [because he] wanted to ensure that the other producer would not find success from the project’ (p. 275). He explains how witchcraft is being used as ‘a psychological and invisible means to deal with the competition that exists between studios and the anxiety of trying to remain on top within the recording business’ (p. 280). He also outlines ways competition has brought about change within particular musical genres: a competitive battle between rap groups Kwanza Unit and the Deplowmatz is indicated as ‘creat[ing] a significant rupture in the future of hip-hop in the country’ (p. 217).
By connecting Tanzanian popular music to Black America, Perullo suggests a unique pluralism across African and African American cultures. Although brief, this discussion of Tanzanian popular music through diasporic links is welcome. In Perullo's words, borrowing from Black American forms became ‘a means to symbolically overcome economic realities of local contexts. Imitation was a means to embody the persona of others imagined to be successful, powerful, and prosperous’ (p. 164). An interview with a local musician is introduced as support: ‘[Public Enemy] really attracted me to rapping because I saw the way black men liked the music and the way they searched for their own voice’ (p. 164). As Perullo concludes, ‘Even if many young Tanzanians could not understand the lyrics, the powerful visual images of artists such as Tupac Shakur and Ice T, accompanied by their strong, confident, often angry voices inspired many young Tanzanian musicians’ (p. 164). This cultural borrowing comes out of ‘the long history of trans-regional and global integration that has taken place in East Africa’ (p. 342), but the youths' embrace of Black America as a vehicle for self-definition points more directly to the transnational and sociocultural strength hip hop wields across the globe.
His inclusion of women – how they work in and against a male-dominated music economy – is also appreciated. Perullo contends that ‘men occupy most forms of employment in Tanzania's music economy’ (pp. 128–9), explaining that, ‘[s]ocial customs often inhibit women from taking on tasks deemed as male, such as handling band finances, and giving up roles deemed as female, such as helping feed the other performers during band practices’ (p. 130). However, an increasing number of women are entering the music business, many finding success by adopting performance practices that not only enable them to stand separate from the men but allow for community recognition and appreciation. Perullo introduces us to Stara Thomas, who, ‘[by] singing about maternal health’, is able ‘to maintain elements of female identity while subverting customary expectations of women within the music economy’ (p. 137). Several women performers, including Lady Jay Dee and Ray C, perform ‘foreign musics’ as a strategy to ‘redefine their place within the local economy without appearing to subvert any dominant gender roles’ (p. 137). They ‘imitate dress, styles, dances, and persona of American r&b singers who appear to be powerful, well-dressed individuals who entertain large audiences and receive celebrity media attention’ (p. 137), ‘draw[ing] on alternative notions of gender that circulate globally’ (p. 137) as a way to receive local acceptance. In Perullo's words, ‘Barriers placed on women in society are commonplace within Tanzania's music economy, but so too are the strategies used to overcome those barriers’ (p. 140).
As Perullo contends, ‘arriving on stage as a performer signifies a person's long struggle in overcoming economic and social hurdles in musical development’ (p. 143), with ‘[j]oining a group in Tanzania … one of the more complex social rituals in the popular music scene’ (p. 172). Live from Dar es Salaam: Popular Music and Tanzania's Music Economy exposes those complexities and incites debate about the process of modernisation in Africa. Using popular music to traverse the complex forces that form what today are the social, cultural, political and economic realities of Tanzania, this book reveals the multiple and contradictory changes neoliberalism has brought to bear on Tanzanian society. It is a welcome addition to popular music and African studies, and will prove particularly relevant to those researchers seeking to place popular music within frames of cultural economics.
