Charles Lwanga, assistant professor of music (ethnomusicology) has published a new research article in the African Studies Review Journal. Titled “Watch Your Tone! Music and Meaning in Bobi Wine’s ‘Tugambire ku Jennifer’ and the Kampala Street Vendors,” the article analyzes meaning through the lens of speech act theory, providing an understanding of what music means when it simultaneously reflects and shapes society.
By introducing the notion of Afrosonicity as an assemblage of music, tonal utterances, and other artistic idioms characterized by relations of exteriority, Lwanga destabilizes the meaning of what is commonly conceived of as musical through the Euro/Western lens, and by doing so, considers popular African musical arts as sonic assemblages whose meaning does not begin and end with the composer, but also stretches to the interpretations of listeners.
The abstract states:
Music enhances participation in emerging democracies where the rights of association, assemblage, and the freedom of expression are suppressed by the state apparatus meant to guarantee them in the first place. Ugandan Afropop musician and politician, Robert Kyagulanya (aka Bobi Wine), composed the song “Tugambire ku Jennifer” (Tell Jennifer on Our Behalf), which articulated the social aspirations of Kampala’s street vendors. The song’s meaning does not begin and end with the composer’s intent but stretches to its effects on the listeners. Analyzing meaning through the lens of speech act theory provides an understanding of what music means when it simultaneously reflects and shapes society.
Lwanga’s 2024 article “Watch Your Tone!” is open access and is available online.