Sometimes, the best opportunities in life occur through chance encounters. Such was the case when I befriended an Uber driver from Uganda named Joe while visiting Sacramento, California for the Christmas holiday last month. As we traveled on the way to the “Old Sacramento” area within the capital city, he and I spent our time talking extensively about the global nature of the vast musical genres from Latin America and beyond through African connections. That moment proved to be one that I would never forget. It was there that Joe introduced me to the music of performing artists like Taj Mahal (b. 1942) and Salif Keita (b. 1949).
The two artists in question have both established themselves respectively for the past several decades. Their music also serves to defy categorization by combining seemingly disparate genres. Listeners will find instances with songs that combine blues with country. At other times, one can hear music like salsa or something that would be heard in the Medieval or Renaissance eras in their works. Despite their geographical distance and linguistic approaches to lyricism (Taj Mahal hails from the United States, while Salif Keita lives in Mali), both artists seek to challenge the audience’s expectations by tearing down musical borders. In this sense, the music that they produce should not be interpreted through the subjective (and unscientific) lens of “cultural appropriation.” They share and, at times, reclaim musical identities to help listeners gain a better understanding about the African diasporic musical links throughout the world.
The two artists in question have both established themselves respectively for the past several decades. Their music also serves to defy categorization by combining seemingly disparate genres. Listeners will find instances with songs that combine blues with country. At other times, one can hear music like salsa or something that would be heard in the Medieval or Renaissance eras in their works. Despite their geographical distance and linguistic approaches to lyricism (Taj Mahal hails from the United States, while Salif Keita lives in Mali), both artists seek to challenge the audience’s expectations by tearing down musical borders. In this sense, the music that they produce should not be interpreted through the subjective (and unscientific) lens of “cultural appropriation.” They share and, at times, reclaim musical identities to help listeners gain a better understanding about the African diasporic musical links throughout the world.
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