It's All a Matter of How You Word It...

In reading Feld’s article on world music, I can’t help but agree with his underlying point; that ‘world music’ and the issues surrounding it are contingent on how one defines world music. He notes that originally the term ‘world music’ “…was a friendly phrase, a less cumbersome alternative to ethnomusicology, the more strikingly academic term” (146) In calling ‘world music’ by such a name, “the terminological dualism that distinguished world music from music helped reproduce a tense division in the academy, where musics understood as non-Western or ethnically other continued to be routinely partitioned from those of the West” (147). Simply in classifying it ‘world music’ we are marking it is a different and unlike any other genre of music to date. The term ‘world music’ lends itself to the notions of primitivism that Feld discusses throughout his article. (147) While world music may have a different sound than perhaps Westerners are familiar with, it nonetheless deserves to be recognized in the greater classification of music. From this, I believe we should attempt to call it what it is – that is, if we must classify it, it should be placed under the genre that it best falls under. This is in keeping with the assumption that we must classify it in general. The issue of cultural appropriation, or who was the first to create such a sound is more or less tied up in technicalities. Moreover, I am suggesting that society is too hung up on definitions. Our desire to define and categorize has led ‘world music’ to be seen as otherworldly – not fit for any definition of music.





Above I have included two clips (part one and two) of an interview with Youssou N'Dour, a famous singer out of Senegal. He touches on the issue of where his music fits globally. His interview provides an interesting account of how world music is situation on a global scale. According to N’Dour, his music is a combination of all different styles, which is how he has differentiated himself. He notes further along that it is not necessarily the language that one sings in that is important, but rather the music is actually more so the language, therefore, making it the focus. The two clips demonstrates an artist of ‘world music’ who tends to see his music as something that cannot necessarily be defined – as he gives a gives, what sounds like, a new definition to the style of music he creates with collaborators. He claims that the most pertinent thing he takes from Western music is the production, distribution, and promotional methods of putting music out to the public - which is interesting to note. He goes on to suggest that he doesn’t necessarily appropriate any particular aspects of Western music into his own. His interview seems to really emphasize that the issue may not necessarily be appropriation, but rather a collaboration effort in order to derive something new altogether.

It seems to me that the reason North Americans seek something primitive or exotic, is because we have limited ourselves in our definitions of what music is, therefore inhibiting the growth and development of different musical sounds. Youssou N’Dour is a great example of an artist that makes an effort to collaborate with different musical styles, to create a new sound altogether. I think the key lies in the perception of music itself; music is not stagnant, but rather is always changing, and therefore cannot necessarily be grounded by definition. In this way, ‘primitive’ sound, as it may be, is constantly being created.

Works Cited:

Feld, Stephen (2000). ‘A Sweet Lullaby for World Music’. Public Culture, 12 (1): 145-171.