Abstract
This panel explores the dynamic interplay of popular culture, youth, and religion within African contexts, examining how contemporary cultural expressions reflect and shape the experiences and (im)mobilities of youth. As Africa undergoes rapid socio-political changes, economic transformations, and technological advancements, popular culture, intertwined with religious influences, emerges as a vital site for negotiating identity, agency, and belonging among young people. Through case studies and comparative analyses, this panel will highlight the diverse modalities of youth expression across music, film, fashion, digital media, and street art, illustrating how these cultural forms both reflect and challenge traditional religious narratives. Contributors will engage with the notion that popular culture not only mirrors the socio-religious landscape but actively participates in its reconfiguration, positioning youth as co-creators and agents who navigate the complexities of both local and global contexts. Additionally, the panel will explore how popular culture serves as a space for spiritual expression, empowerment, and social commentary, allowing youth to reinterpret their lived experiences and engage with their faith in innovative ways. By addressing how these cultural forms navigate and resist the constraints of waithood, the panel captures the frustrations and aspirations of young Africans, often caught in a prolonged state of waiting as they transition from conforming to norms into exploring their agencies. Overall, this panel brings together scholars engaged with popular culture, youth studies, religious studies, and African temporalities to foster a nuanced dialogue about the transformative potential of youth-led cultural movements and their implications for understanding contemporary African societies.
Speakers
El Maarouf Moulay Driss
Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez (Morocco)
Rhyming Against the Powers That Be: Pause Flow’s Dialectical Critique of Governance and the Sacred
This paper examines Pause Flow’s hip hop music, where religious concepts (i.e. hell, paradise, angels, religious mercantalism, khilafa, etc.) are reconfigured as instruments of radical critique against political governance and the ruling tactics of the powers that be. Rather than seeking transcendent meaning, Pause Flow weaponizes the sacred to not disrupt and expose the underlying power structures but make his critique a subject matter of public debate. The focus here is not simply on how hip-hop artists employ music, profane language, and poetry to subvert norms, but on how these transgressions challenge the very foundations of political and religious authority by subjecting the sacrosanct to the scrutiny of his fans and detractors. Pause Flow’s engagement with religion becomes a strategic reappropriation, not a rejection, of the sacred, offering a dialectical rethinking of power dynamics, particularly in the Moroccan context in which we can't draw a wedge between religious authority and political authority.
Keywords: Pause Flow, Hip Hop, Political Governance, Religious Critique, Sacred, Power Dynamics, Dialectical Rethinking
Charles Prempeh
Centre for Cultural and African Studies, KNUST (Ghana)
"We will plead the cause of our ancestors": Imprecation, popular cultures and young people's political activism in Ghana
My presentation seeks to explore young people's assimilation of popular cultures and spirituality (rejuvenation of imprecatory prayers) as they broaden the frontiers of democratic governance in Ghana. Ghana's liberal democracy is celebrated across sub-Saharan Africa as a model for emulation in the region. Meanwhile, since the 1990s, when the country charted renewed pathways in liberal democracy, voter apathy remains a major concern to the political class. The situation is compounded by several young people's endorsement of military leaders who are challenging the fault lines in liberal democracy. In Ghana, however, young people have not shown explicit enthusiastic support for a military takeover of public governance. Nevertheless, since the millennial turn, they have consistently advocated a review of the 1992 constitution to cure its embedded deficits in over-concentrating power in the country’s president. To achieve this political ambition, young men and women have harvested both online and offline resources for mobilisation and political activism. Even so, the political class has often deployed the security apparatuses and structures of governance, including the judiciary, to impose immobility on them. Against this context, since the commencement of the millennium, young people have incorporated imprecation in popular cultures to implore the country’s earliest nationalists and some presumably powerful deities, such as Antoa in the Asante Region of the country to invoke curses on politicians and state actors believed to be involved in different shades of malignant corruption. This means that since Michael Okyere's (popularly known as Obrafuor) hiplife debut, "Yaanom," released in 2001, invoked the spirit of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and the ancestors to restore Ghana to glory, by punishing perceived corrupt state officials, the trend has continued henceforth. Beyond hiplife, Ghana's young people have leveraged Accra's annual popular cultural celebration, "Chale wote," to align religion, popular culture, and political activism in broadening the frontiers of participatory democracy and its expected consequential human flourishing. My paper draws on the theories of popular culture, the modern state, and secularism to explore how young people leverage popular songs and cultural festivals to foster an indigenous non-binary worldview through the ritual performance of imprecatory supplications to demand accountability and transparency in public governance. My paper ultimately will index the interface between popular cultures, spirituality, and young people's deconstruction of state-imposed limitations in public governance.
Keywords: "Chale wote," Ghana, Imprecation, Popular Culture, Politics
Ashir Tukur Inuwa
Bayero University Kano (Nigeria)
Navigating Faith and Fame: The Complexities of Agency in Kannywood Celebrities
This research explores the concept of self-determination within the context of Kannywood, the Nigerian Hausa-language film industry. This study investigates the intricate dynamics of individual agency, religious beliefs, and societal pressures within the careers and lives of two prominent Kannywood celebrities, Nafisa Abdullahi and Rahama Sadau. Both women, from cultured Hausa-Muslim families in Northern Nigeria, have achieved significant success as actresses. However, their active engagement on social media, often featuring posts that challenge traditional norms, has generated considerable controversy and backlash within their conservative community. Nafisa Abdullahi, known for her philanthropic endeavors, has faced criticism for her modern lifestyle and outspoken views on social issues. For instance, her recent comments on her personal choice to not wear a headscarf on her talk show, "The Social Spotlight," sparked significant online backlash, with many expressing disapprovals. Rahama Sadau has also faced severe consequences for her perceived transgressions against religious and cultural expectations. In 2020, her post featuring a backless dress led to threats of violence from some commentators, who claimed it indirectly led to a blasphemous statement by a non-believer. In response to the intense criticism, Sadau publicly expressed regret and released an apology video on Twitter. By examining their experiences, the research reveals how personal choices and religious values shape their professional trajectories amidst the cultural expectations and norms of a conservative society. Through qualitative analysis, the study highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by these celebrities, offering insights into how they navigate their public personas while striving to remain true to their beliefs and values.
Keywords: Self-determination, Kannywood, Agency, Religion, Career, Public personas, Nigerian film industry
Discussant
Britta Frede, University of Bayreuth (Germany)