As we enter black history month, it’s a good time to remind us of black culture, as well as the influence within the music industry. There is an abundance of material to highlight, but let’s look at some of the most influential movements of recent times.
African Music
African music has such a large influence in the world today that most of us are unaware of. We simply see it is a trend to put a new dance to, but when we look at the phenomenon of Afro beats we can see just how relevant it is. Over the past few years there have been countless hits that have seen some of the biggest arenas and stadiums filled to capacity. This however, is just from a western point of view. If we look at South Africa and the origin of house music, we can see just how much African music and culture have influenced music genres across the board. It’s wonderful that music can bring people together to share different cultures where other mediums may not be able to do so. Black history month is the perfect time to delve even further into black culture.
Why the name ‘Zuwa’?
We often get asked the question, “what does Zuwa mean?”. Zuwa simply means light, originating from the Nyanja language from Zambia. The reason we chose this to be the title for the agency is to keep black history alive and to promote positivity everywhere we go. It’s also a really good conversation stater so that we can share some of our culture and the background we come from. You can experience some of this from our very own DJ Zuwa.
Black Music in the Western World
African culture has heavily influenced music in the UK over the past few years. We have genres such as grime, rap, r&b, garage, jazz and so many others. If we study the history of black music we can trace the origins brought Latin America to Africa which then made its way to the modern western world. Africa has such a diverse range in music because of its different cultures. The environment has a big part to play in the instruments used which develops the sound of the music, which is then synonyms to the culture. Once you bring all that together mixed with western music, you have such a wealth of variety to choose from. There really is nothing like the latin feeling afro – beats from Mozambique, or the 6/8 feel from Senegal and Ivory Coast. Black culture has so much to offer in regards to music.