arts, ideas & societyGlobal Voices: Arts & Culture1960s–1970s · Zambia

The death and rebirth of the distinctive sounds of Zambia

the gist

Zambia's 1970s rock scene, Zamrock, mixed psychedelic rock and funk with traditional Zambian music, with bands like WITCH. It grew out of a copper boom that paid miners well enough to fund live music. After independence in 1964, President Kenneth Kaunda's government required that 95 percent of radio music be Zambian, which helped local bands flourish. Economic decline, political instability and the AIDS epidemic later drew the scene down, until overseas fans rediscovered and reissued the records decades later.

how it works

A 1960s-era law required local content on radio, giving Zambian musicians a guaranteed audience. Copper mining wages created paying audiences for live bands. Bands combined imported rock styles with local rhythms and call-and-response singing.

so what

Zambian music shows how state policy, mining wealth and cultural identity can shape a national sound. Today the scene has produced Zed Beats, a local style blending African sounds with hip-hop and R&B.

more on this

background

Zamrock is a music genre and scene that emerged in Zambia during the early 1970s. It has been described as a fusion of traditional African music and psychedelic rock, garage rock, hard rock, blues and funk, taking influence from popular bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, and Cream.

Rock musician Rikki Ililonga and his band Musi-O-Tunya are widely regarded as the inventors of this style of music. Other notable artists include WITCH, The Peace, Amanaz, Chrissy "Zebby" Tembo, and Paul Ngozi and his Ngozi Family.

Though it is no longer as popular in the country as it once was due to Zambia's economic difficulties in the late 1970s, Zamrock has seen a recent resurgence, led by former WITCH member Emmanuel Chanda, better known as Jagari.

From Wikipedia: Zamrock (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗ · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Global Voices · CC BY 3.0

Illustrative photo · Esnala Banda, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons