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Based on fieldwork in Kinshasa and Paris, Breaking Rocks examines patronage payments within Congolese popular music, where a love song dedication can cost 6,000 dollars and a simple name check can trade for 500 or 600 dollars. Tracing this system of prestige through networks of musicians and patrons – who include gangsters based in Europe, kleptocratic politicians in Congo, and lawless diamond dealers in northern Angola – this book offers insights into ideologies of power and value in central Africa’s troubled post-colonial political economy, as well as a glimpse into the economic flows that make up the hidden side of the globalization.
“While the book’s subject – the economics of Rumba Congolaise – is arguably hyper-specialized, its intellectual scope and ambition are extensive. Trapido’s considerable insights engage a diverse, expansive body of literature that will be germane to readers interested in the Congo Basin, economic anthropology, ethnomusicology, postcolonial theory, and beyond.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
“Built upon a stunningly rich ethnography, Breaking Rocks elaborates on the political entanglement of the music industry spanning across the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congolese diaspora. A witty, fresh account, including stories and case studies rooted in a thorough period of fieldwork, Breaking Rocks is simply a must-read for anyone either professionally or amateurishly inclined to anthropology or musicology.” • Kristien Geenen, Ghent University
“This is a highly impressive, utterly original, often brilliant book on both the empirical and theoretical levels… A wonderful ethnography of music production, performance, spectacle, and deceit.” • Nancy Rose Hunt, University of Michigan
“This is an excellent book, written with great warmth and verve in the narrative… Breaking Rocks will make a significant impact on African Studies.” • Michael Rowlands, University College London
Chapter 1. Bars, Music, Gender and Politics
Chapter 2. Exchange, Music, Patronage
Chapter 3. Potlatch Migrants: Travelling to Europe, Arriving in Kinshasa
Chapter 4. Rights, Piracy and Producers
Chapter 5. The Président as Gatekeeper, Patronage as a Class Relationship. Elders and Cadets Rey Reproduced Now.
Chapter 6. Mikiliste Economies
Chapter 7. Love and Money
Chapter 8. Charismatic Fetishism
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index