Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity

Popularity and effectiveness

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. Performers depend on the participation of the audience/chorus. This participation – referred to as ‘showing respect’ in rituals – is necessary for heating the gathering. And heating is necessary for the ritual to be effective. Even if not interested in the final effectiveness of the music or gathering, the attendees themselves also benefit from dedicated participation: it makes the gathering much livelier and more interesting. Dedicated participation from as large an audience as possible is fostered by the popularity of the songs, dancing and behaviour. Furthermore, the popularity of Mwami mediums is directly related to the healing and problem-solving power attributed to them.
In short, popularity is not an insignificant issue.

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. A drawback for Mwami mediums is that Mwami songs are considered to be difficult. So, even if Mwami mediums could bring many new songs, like Ciwila mediums, it would not be effective. The audience/chorus would struggle to take over these songs. A Mwami medium, especially when coming from outside of the Lala region, like Chalebaila, therefore has to cherish the songs that are known and popular with a large audience.

Popularity at rituals where the spirit-possessed dance

In former days, there were fewer spirit-possessed individuals and only the cult group and relatives attended their rituals. Consequently, the focus was always there. They did not need popular songs to heat the ritual (kukafye cila).
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

Someone from this area can be possessed by a spirit of Kaonde origin. The music and dance then become a mixture of Kaonde and Lala. It is purely Kaonde when the spirit descends upon the possessed (kuseluka), and a mixture of both when singing and dancing for the public. They are aiming at the majority. Therefore, the dance and music are predominantly Lala, even if they might then be un-Kaonde-like.
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

In former days, possession songs, like other songs, often dealt with sexual matters. Nowadays, they do not, as people no longer favour that type of text. Thus, the spirits follow (-konka) the taste of the people.
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

When the songs or dancing are popular, it is a sign of good co-operation between the possessed and the spirit. To give an example: you do not eat something that is forbidden for you, even during the day, while the spirits only come at night. If you do eat something that is forbidden, a form of punishment can be to allow only a small audience to attend a ritual where you dance.
Munteta Chalebaila ∵ personal communication, 1987.

For Mwami, the popularity of a song is a condition for its usability in heating the ritual (kukafye cila).
Salati Mukoti ∵ personal communication, 1987.

A new kind of audience

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. Starting in the 1970s, the Cibombe had introduced a fairly new element to possession rituals: the general public could attend. No invitation was needed, nor was any specific relation with the organisers or their group. That this was a recent development in the 1980s can also be deduced from what Blacking¹Blacking (1962:4). wrote about the Nsenga region around 1960. “Each style of music appeals primarily to those who are concerned with the social events which it embellishes: thus, for instance, mashabi [mashabe] music appeals principally to those who are members of the possession cult.”
One of the reasons for this development was that, during the Fetulo period, shing’anga and local cults had been marginalised. This included imputation, based on observed or attributed fraud, not rarely based on some form of North Atlantic reasoning: christian, medical, or scientific. It concerned the shing’anga, the therapies, and the rituals. Therefore, greater transparency of methods and rituals became necessary when Mwami initiated the rekindling of these therapies and rituals in the 1970s. 

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. The audience/chorus, initially a small group of well-trained cult members and their relatives, grew to include anyone who wished to attend. This development was also informed by the fact that Mwami mediums could acquire a reputation as healers by being popular singers-dancers. This new form of popularity clashed with the older form of a performer’s popularity: the ing’omba popularity. The latter, ironically, had been revitalised by the arrival of Mwami. See the series of articles Fighting with songs for a vivid representative case of this clash.

Popularity is never undisputed

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. Popularity, as well as success, can be reasons for jealousy and suspicion. It is certainly not always possible to assess whether they are the result of ishuko, following the rules of life (mushila), or whether they were obtained by malicious means.

Some hunters just use herbs; others use parts of dead persons as medicine. You see, the latter are connected to witchcraft: their success in hunting means death for others.
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

Popularity at other gatherings

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. At Sandauni, the performers, the kalindula band and the dancers, are not often the centre of attention. They provide musical services that rouse the attendees to participate and make the Sandauni lively. The consumption of beer also plays a part in this, if not the biggest. Only when this stage of arousal is present, can the Sandauni achieve a vibrancy and hotness comparable to an Ipupo or Cibombe; see Photo 5. In the majority of the cases, however, it does not, and the attendees have a more consuming attitude towards the music. An important factor in this is that, due to frequent fighting, it was eventually forbidden to hold Sandauni in the evening. In the evenings, there had been more attention for and focus on the music and the dancing.
Popularity of certain songs exists, often because they work well at the kalindula Cila. Popularity of a certain band in is, in most cases, confined to a rather small area, compared to the popularity of individual mediums. Some people will come to a Sandauni to watch the dancers, predominantly adolescent girls, but without offering much feedback to them.

Evaluation of music in Zambia: popularity. At the old beer party, beer consumption also supported the arousal of the attendees, but the music was made by all attendees. Little distinction was made between performers and attendees. Major musical roles would regularly switch. Behaviour that a successful performer might exhibit at an Ipupo was not considered respectful at old beer parties. For example, someone starting all of the songs, or dancing continuously, or playing the drum for a long period. Here, popularity is possible for performers who can heat the gathering through their manner of starting or performing, and for certain songs or dances known to achieve this.