Kofi Agawu, a renowned Ghanaian scholar, teacher, and researcher, has significantly impacted the world's perception of African music. Born in Hohoe, Ghana's Volta region, on September 28, 1956, Agawu is Ewe, the dominant group in the region. He studied in Britain and completed his doctorate at Stanford University in 1982. Agawu has taught at various institutions, including Princeton and the City University of New York Graduate Centre. His work has made it challenging to view African music as merely "felt" rather than analytically understood.
For most of the 20th century, writing about African music focused on rhythm, with Europeans analyzing it. Harmony and form were associated with Western music, while African music received descriptive analysis. Agawu's work challenged this disparity. His first book, "Playing with Signs" (1991), analyzed European music using a system of signs, earning him the Society for Music Theory's award for an emerging scholar. This foundation allowed him to apply similar analytical tools to African music.
Agawu's book "African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective" (1995) examined Ewe rhythmic life, locating its engine in spoken language rather than drums. In the same year, he published "The Invention of 'African Rhythm'," which showed that the concept of African rhythm was largely a European construct. This work argued that Europe invented "African rhythm" as a badge of difference, while in reality, Ewe music is rooted in speech and thought.
In "Representing African Music" (2003), Agawu identified an ideology of difference in the way African music is treated, as permanently other. This perspective was met with both acclaim and criticism. Ethnomusicologist Veit Erlmann praised Agawu's work but argued that he sometimes presented African languages, ethics, and aesthetics as fixed, risking a return to the very space of difference he sought to escape.
Agawu's later work, "The African Imagination in Music" (2016), explored the essence of African music, arguing that it has a specifiable essence, with groove being the outward sign. Groove refers to the steady cycle of interlocking patterns that repeats beneath the music, drawing everyone present into movement. While this concept convincingly describes much sub-Saharan music, its applicability to other genres and regions remains open to debate.
Agawu's most recent book, "On African Music" (2023), examines the impact of Western tonality on African music. He argues that the system of keys and chords governing Western music acted as a colonizing force, reorganizing musical consciousness in Africa. This claim is supported by the example of South Africa's national anthem, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," which was originally a hymn written in the harmonic language of the mission station.
Agawu's contributions have been widely recognized, with numerous awards, including the Society for Ethnomusicology's prize named after J.H. Kwabena Nketia and the Wallace Berry Award. His work serves as a model for scholars in various fields, demonstrating that theory can emerge from the intersection of two traditions rather than loyalty to one. Agawu's legacy continues to inspire new perspectives on African music and its place in the world.
Key points
- Kofi Agawu's work challenges the notion that African music is merely "felt" rather than analytically understood.
- Agawu argues that Western tonality acted as a colonizing force, reorganizing musical consciousness in Africa.
- Agawu's concept of groove describes the essence of African music, but its applicability to various genres and regions remains a topic of debate.
