Notes of despair and consciousness: performativity and visibility of albinism in musical practices

Abstract

Recent studies endeavour to shed light on the multiple ways bodily impairments and disability identities are defined, socially constructed and enacted in various musical practices. The majority of these analyses are from the Global North and do not examine the various entanglements of music and disability in other socio-economic, political and geographical contexts. This article therefore explores the intertwinement of notions of disability identity related to albinism and the enactment of social performativity, visibility and masculinity of the condition in musical productions. This scrutiny is based on both the song lyrics of two renowned artists with albinism, Salif Keita from Mali and Yellowman from Jamaica, and an ethnographic investigation of a Tanzanian musician, Ras Six.

Keywords:

• Albinism
• performativity
• visibility
• disability identities
• masculinity
• Tanzania

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) for providing funding for doctoral studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology as well as to the National Institute of Medical Research, Tanzania for the ethical approval of conducting research in Tanzania. The author is also thankful to the following for their insightful suggestions and useful comments on previous drafts of the article: Hansjörg Dilger, Dominik Mattes, Aminata Cécile Mbaye, Simon Mutebi and the members of the Arbeitskreis Medical Anthropology at the Freie Universität Berlin. Finally, the author is highly indebted to all of the women, men and children with albinism in Tanzania, who made the research possible, and his family for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Ethical approval

The National Institute of Medical Research provided ethical approval for the research. Written and oral consent for observation and interviews was also obtained from each study participant and Ras Six.

IDs

Twitter: @GiorgioBrocco

Facebook: Giorgio Brocco

Researchgate.net and Academia.edu: Giorgio Brocco

Notes

1 Another instance of the latter phenomenon comes from X Plastaz, one of the most famous East-African hip-hop/Bongo Flava music groups. These musicians released a song entitled ‘Nini Dhambi kwa Mwenye Dhiki’ (Which [is] the Sin of those Having Agony) in 2004 that metaphorically mentions widespread stigma attached to people with albinism and hints at the trade of albino body parts within an ‘occult economy’ of Tanzania. A further example of this trend is Babu Sikare aka Albino Fulani, a performer, activist and musician no longer active. After having released songs such as ‘Usihofu, Barua kwa Mama’ (Letter for the Mother) and ‘Tofauti na Jana’ (Different from Yesterday), he created a charity called Afrobino LDT in 2011. He then wrote two new tunes to support his humanitarian endeavour. The first is called ‘Nafasi’ (Possibility) and was made with other Bongo Flava artists (such as Sugu, Belle9 and Mwanafa). The second song is called ‘Save Albino Project’ and was performed with ABizzy and LTD.

2 Khadija Shaban Taya, aka 'Keisha', is instead recognized as a famous Bongo Flava female musician since one of her first songs, ‘Zawadi’ (Present), achieved public success in the country. During her career, Keisha won the Kilimanjaro Music Award for Best Female Artist in 2009, and engaged in important collaboration with other Bongo Flava musicians: ‘Nimechoka’ (I am Tired) with Diamond Platnumz (the most recognized Bongo flava artist in the whole African continent), ‘Nalia’ (I Cry) with Fid Q and ‘Uvumilivu’ (Endurance/Patience) with Squeezer. Keisha also embarked on a music project about albinism.

3 I maintain Ras Six’s given name because he is a public figure and he agreed to be described by his given name.

4 The bongo flava music genre is the product of a hybridization through globalization of multiple music styles. The name of the genre presumably derived from bongo (brain), a term pointing out the alleged smartness of people living in Dar es Salaam. The main characteristics of bongo flava are lyrics mostly written in Kiswahili and/or the local street language (lugha ya mitaani), music composed of back-up tracks prepared by producers and an audience formed from (urban) youth.

Additional information

Funding

The present research is financially supported by DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) [research grant for Doctoral Candidates and Young Academics and Scientists number 57048249].