Rebel Musics

In this pioneering study, Hisham Aidi—an expert on globalization and social movements—takes us into the musical subcultures that have emerged among Muslim youth worldwide over the last decade. He shows how music—primarily hip-hop, but also rock, reggae, Gnawa and Andalusian—has come to express a shared Muslim consciousness in face of War on Terror policies. This remarkable phenomenon extends from the banlieues of Paris to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, from the park jams of the South Bronx to the Sufi rock bands of Pakistan. The United States and other Western governments have even tapped into these trends, using hip hop and Sufi music to de-radicalize Muslim youth abroad. Aidi situates these developments in a broader historical context, tracing longstanding connections between Islam and African-American music. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, Rebel Music takes the pulse of a revolutionary soundtrack that spans the globe.

Daniel Fischlin is a leading Canadian humanities researcher who has written over twenty books. Also a musician and community organizer, he chairs the Board of Silence, a community art space in Guelph, and is the founding director of the newly launched MA/PhD program in Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of Guelph. Ajay Heble is the founding director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) and professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. He is the founding artistic director of the award-winning Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium and a founding co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Critical Studies in Improvisation. Heble is also an accomplished pianist who, with Daniel Fischlin, records and performs with the improvising quartet, The Vertical Squirrels.

A volume in Critical Constructions: Studies on Education and Society Series Editor: Curry Stephenson Malott, West Chester University of Pennsylvania Arising from the street corners and underground clubs, Rebel Music: Resistance through Hip Hop and Punk, challenges standardized schooling and argues for equity, peace, and justice. Rebel Music is an important, one-of-a-kind book that takes readers through fun, radical, educational chapters examining Hip Hop and Punk songs, with each section addressing a particular social issue. Rebel Music values the experiences found in both movements as cultural capital that is de-valued in the current oppressive, standard, test-driven, rule-bound, and corporate schooling experience, making youth "just another brick in the wall." This collection is a "rebel yell" to administrators, teachers, parents, police, politicians, and counselors who demonize Hip Hop and Punk to listen up and respect youth culture. Finally, Rebel Music is a celebration of radical voices and an organizing tool for those who use music to challenge oppression.

When it was first published in 2003, Rebel Musics sought to explore how musical activism resonates as resistance to the dominant culture, and how political action through music increases the potential for people to determine their own fate. If anything, these issues seem to be even more pressing today. Rebel Musics offers a fascinating journey into a rich, complex world where music and politics unite, and where rebel musicians are mobilizing for political change, resistance, and social justice. Daniel Fischlin and Ajay Heble cover a wide range of artists, genres, and topics, including Thomas Mapfumo, Bob Marley, William Parker, Frank Zappa, Edgard Varese, Ice-T, American blues, West African drumming, hip hop, gospel, rock'n'roll cabaret, Paul Robeson, and free jazz. This book shows how rebel music is at the heart of some of the most incisive critiques of global politics. With explosive lyrics and driving rhythms, rebel musicians are helping to mobilize movements for political change and social justice, at home and around the world. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Black Rose Books, this revised and expanded edition of Rebel Musics will include all the original essays, as well as a new contribution by the editors. Rounding out the new edition will be several new pieces from artists and scholars that will continue to spark debate about these vital topics in compelling ways.

From Thomas Maptumo to Bob Marley, William Parker to Frank Zappa, Edgard Varese to Ice-T; from American blues to West African drumming, hip hop to son, gospel singing to rock'n'roll cabaret: rebel musics are at the heart of some of the most incisive critiques of global politics. The explosive lyrics and driving rhythms of a new wave of rebel musicians are mobilizing movements for political change and social justice all over the world. Original in concept and content, Rebel Musics examines how musical activism resonates in practical, political terms, how musical resistance brings together voices that might otherwise remain silent, and how political action through music increases the potential for people to determine their own fate. Book jacket.

The signing of the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998, marked the beginning of a new era of peace and stability in Northern Ireland. As the public has overwhelmingly rejected a return to the violence of the Troubles (1968–1998), loyalist and republican groups have sought other outlets to continue their struggle. Music has long been used to celebrate cultural identity in the North of Ireland: from street parades to football chants, and from folk festivals to YouTube videos, music facilitates the continuation of pre-Agreement identity narratives in a “post-conflict” era. Sounding Dissent draws on original in-depth interviews with Irish republican musicians, contemporary audiences, and former paramilitaries, as well as diverse historical and archival material, including songbooks, prison records, and newspaper articles, to understand the history of political violence in Ireland. The book examines the hagiographic potential of rebel songs to memorialize a pantheon of republican martyrs, and demonstrates how musical performance and political song not only articulate experiences and memories of oppression and violence, but play a central role in the reproduction of conflict and exclusion in times of peace.

A bold and energetic close-up on one of Africa's most popular and controversial stars.

An ethnography of music and dance exploring the economic, social, and ideological constraints under which social classes and racial groups interact