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This article deals with the dynamics of gendered space in Muziki wa Injili (lit. Gospel Music) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Muziki wa Injili is characterized by employing body movements, by incorporating improvisation, and by featuring the use of electric guitars and keyboards all of which are uncommon in the mainstream church music traditions, particularly in the art church choir music and church hymns. In addition, unlike art choir music, Muziki wa Injili borrows musical elements from other popular music genres such as rumba, soukous, zouk, reggae, rap, taarab, and salsa (charanga), to be brief. The elements borrowed include dancing styles, rhythmic, and/or melodic configurations, playing techniques, ornamentation, and singing styles, among others. Sometimes it is performed by church choirs. At other times it is performed by individual musicians who record and sell their cassettes privately. Thus the use of the concept Muziki wa Injili is broader than that of Muziki wa Kwaya (lit. Choir Music) in that it includes not only the music performed by church choirs, as is the case with Muziki wa Kwaya, but also church music performed by individual musicians. Apart from being performed in churches during services, Muziki wa Injili is also performed during concerts of Muziki wa Injili (which take place almost every weekend in different concert halls in Dar es Salaam) and during indoor and outdoor evangelical meetings (Barz 1997, 2003). Because of the recent developments in recording, the advent of cheap cassette reproduction technology, and the growing broadcasting opportunities in television and radio stations, some of which are owned by church organizations, Muziki wa Injili has grown rapidly in popularity and use in the last two decades (Barz 1997, 2003; Sanga 2001, 2006). As I illustrate in an ethnographic account below, the prominence of women in this music has also increased significantly during this time. |
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