KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE (1979)
@ Block Museum of Art
40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Opening Thursday, November 7th, at 7PM
KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE (1979)
(Jeremy Marre, 1979, approx 60 min, digital)
From street singers to international superstars, English documentarian Jeremy Marreโs KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE reveals a multifaceted landscape of music and politics in 1970s Nigeria. Commissioned for the celebrated โBeats of the Heartโ documentary series, KONKOMBE brought an awareness of contemporary African music to Western audiences at the dawn of the 1980s, spurring some of the decadeโs most exciting musical crossovers and hybrids. It also serves as a vital record of legendary performers like I.K. Dairo, King Sunny Adรฉ, and Fela Anรญkรบlรกpรณ Kuti, and a probing examination of the linguistic, religious, economic, and political factors that shaped their sounds.
Especially noteworthy is presence of The Lijadu Sisters, a trailblazing duo who pushed back against the culture of sexism in the music industry to create some of the most politically daring โand funkiestโrecords of the 1970s. According to Rolling Stone, “the Lijadu Sisters helped lay the foundation for African musicโs global resonance today. As pioneers of Nigerian pop, the continentโs most impactful music industry, they diversified the sound and disrupted menโs dominion over it.”
In conjunction with a new reissue campaign dedicated to the Lijadu Sistersโ long-unavailable catalogue, the Block Museum is partnering with beatsoftheheart.tv and Chicago-based record label Numero Group to present KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE.
Presented in partnership with beatsoftheheart.tv and Numero Group, and with thanks to Eric Welles-Nystrรถm.
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Tags: Block Museum, Evanston, KONKOMBE, KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE, KONKOMBE: THE NIGERIAN POP MUSIC SCENE (1979), Northwestern University
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