Youth and Popular Culture in Africa

PAUL UGOR is associate professor of English at Illinois State University. BAMBA NDIAYE is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society for the Humanities and the Music Department at Cornell University. His research interests focus on historical and contemporary social movements in the Black Atlantic, Pan-Africanism, critical race theory, Black popular cultures and digital humanities. He is the author of several peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. His current research projects include Black Social Movement and Digital Technology, "Mbas Mi: Fighting COVID-19 Through Music in Senegal", and "#Justice for Breonna Taylor: Race, Class, Gender and The Rise of Primo-Protesters". Dr. Ndiaye is also the creator and host of The Africanist, an academic podcast which investigates historical and contemporary sociopolitical issues in Africa and the African Diasporas DAVID KERR is Honorary Research Fellow, Department African Studies and Anthropology, University of Birmingham and Research Associate, University of Johannesburg. He is the author of Stowaways on the Indian Ocean: Migration, Memory and Masculinity (2021), and a contributor to Young People and Popular Culture in Africa (University of Rochester Press, 2021). He is editing a special issue of the Journal of Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies on 'Quotidian Archives: Popular Culture, Meaning-Making and Everyday Life in Eastern Africa' (forthcoming, 2021). His articles have been published in the Journal of African Media Studies, the Journal of African Cultural Studies, among others.

• Introduction: Youth, Media, and Popular Arts Culture in Contemporary Africa-Paul Ugor, Illinois State University Media Globalization, Popular Afro Hip-Hop and Postcolonial Political Critique 1. Hip-Hop, Civic Awareness and Anti-Establishment Politics in Senegal: The Rise of the Y'en a marre Movement-Bamba Ndiaye, University of Louisville, Kentucky 2. Rapping, Imagination and Urban Space in Dar es Salaam-David Kerr, University of Birmingham 3. Entertainers & Breadwinners: Music in the Lives of Street Children in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire-Ty-Juana Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles 4. Young People, Music, and Socio-Political Change in Post-War Sierra Leone-Ibrahim Bangura, University of Sierra Leone. 5. The Politics of Pleasure in Nigerian Afrobeats -Paul Ugor, Illinois State University Popular Online Media and Democratic Participation and Engagement 6. The Regeneration of Play: Popular Culture as Infra-politics on Instagram-James Yeku, University of Kansas, Lawrence 7. "This is very embarrassing and insulting": Flash Fiction Ghana and Transgressive Writing-Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang, University of Ghana, Legon 8.Capitalizing on Transgression: Popular Homophobia and Popular Culture in Uganda-Austin Bryan, Northwestern University, Evanston 9. Twitter, Youth Agency, and New Narratives of Power in #RhodesMustFall-Jendele Hungbo, Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria 10. Resisting Political Oppression: Youth and Social Media in Zimbabwe-Godfrey Maringira, Sol Plaatje Universit & Simbarashe Gukurume, Great Zimbabwe UniversityPopular Arts, Everyday Life and the Politicization of Culture 11. Dressing en Style: Fashion and Fandom in Niger-Adeline Masquelier, Tulane University, New Orleans 12. The Revolution Lost: Generational Change and Urban Youth Logics in Conakry's Dance Scene-Adrienne Cohen, Colorado State University13. Culture Players & Poly-Ticks: Botswana Youth, Popular Culture Practices & Resonances-Connie Rapoo, University of Botswana14. 'Born Free': it's cute, but it's a lie': #FeesMustFall and Youth Deconstruction of South Africa's Liberation Narrative-Kristi Heather Kenyon, Juliana Coughlin and David Bosc, University of Winnipeg15. Afterword: Young People and the Future of African Worlds-Nadine Dolby, Purdue University