"You don't get to sing a song when you have nothing to say" : Oliver Mtukudzi's music as a vehicle for socio-political commentary.
Date
2004
Authors
Sibanda, Silindiwe
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Abstract
This paper analyses the music of Oliver Mtukudzi in order to ascertain how he uses
his music as a means of addressing the socio-political issues in Zimbabwe.
Mtukudzi's music has, for decades now, been thought to reflect and voice the realities
of life in Zimbabwe. Particular emphasis has been placed on the lyrics because they
contain the messages of the songs. An evaluation of the music and its addressivity in
conjunction with the lyrics is also examined to determine how Mtukudzi uses them
both as ways of enhancing the message in the songs.
Using the theory of addressivity the paper looks at the nature of this address within
the songs chosen for evaluation within the paper. Similarly the virtual audience, as
distinguishable from real audiences, of Mtukudzi' s address is taken cognisance of in
order to, not only verify the addressivity already discussed, but also to assess how
extensive the audience's influence is in determining the songs that the artist writes.
Using songs from recordings from the last five years I look specifically at how he
deals with themes about women, children, HIV/AIDS and politics in his music and
how this is used to address and reflect the social realities of Zimbabwe.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Masters of Arts.
Keywords
Music -- Zimbabwe., Mtukudzi, Oliver., Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- 1980-