"THIS COUNTRY OF CHINA IS TOUGH": NIGERIAN IMMIGRANT MUSIC MAKING IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v11i1.2291Keywords:
Nigeria, Diaspora, Igbo, Highlife music, Immigrants, Guangzhou, ChinaAbstract
This article concerns Nigerian music making in Guangzhou, one of China’s leading manufacturing and trading centres, and where the largest groups of Africans in China, more generally, are concentrated. Nigerians are the largest community of Africans in Guangzhou and, like other Africans traders, practice what has been referred to as “low-end globalisation” (Mathews and Yang 2012). Beyond entertainment, music making among Nigerians, and Africans in China more generally, has a significant role in not only maintaining a sense of belonging but also in communicating key social concerns, aspirations and sentiments that stem from the experience of living and working in Guangzhou. This article describes how these experiences unfold in specific songs composed by two Igbo Nigerian immigrants whose aspirations and efforts to live and work in the city resulted in different outcomes.
References
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Bodomo, A. 2009a. “Africa-China Relations in an Era of Globalization: The Role of African Trading Communities in China.” [全球化时代的中非关系：非洲在华贸易 团体的角色]. West Asia and Africa《西亚非洲》 8: 62-7.
Bodomo, A. 2009b. “Africa-China relations: Symmetry, Soft power, and South Africa.” The China Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China 9: 169–78.
Bodomo, A. 2010. “The African Trading Community in Guangzhou: An Emerging Bridge for Africa–China Relations.” The China Quarterly 203: 693-707.
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Bodomo, A. 2018. “The Bridge is not Burning Down: Transformation and Resilience within China’s African Diaspora Communities.” African Studies Quarterly 17: 63-83.
Carling, H. Ø. H. A. J. 2006. “On the Edge of the Chinese Diaspora: The Surge of Baihuo Business in an African City.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 28: 639-632.
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Haugen, H. Ø. 2012. “Nigerians in China: A Second State of Immobility.” International Migration 50: 65-80.
Haugen, H. Ø. 2013. “African Pentecostal Migrants in China: Marginalization and the Alternative Geography of a Mission Theology.” African Studies Review 56: 81-102.
Ibukun, Y. 2012. Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry eager to make Pirates Part of Sea Change. [Online]. UK: Theguardian (Beta). http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/ poverty-matters/2012 /dec/14/nigeria-entertainmentindustry- pirates-sea-change [Accessed on 22 October 2014].
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Li , Z., Ma , L. J. C. & Xue, D. 2013. “An African Enclave in China: The Making of a New Transnational Urban Space.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 50: 699-719.
Liu, C. 2017. Guangzhou Community Shrinks Under Police Pressure, Economic Changes.” Global Times, 26 March.
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Mathews, G., Lin, D. & Yang, Y. 2014. “How to Evade States and Slip Past Borders: Lessons from Traders, Overstayers, and Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong and China.” City & Society 26: 217-238.
Mathews, G. & Yang, Y. 2012. “How Africans Pursue Low-End Globalization in Hong Kong and Mainland China.” Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 41: 95-120.
Meyer, B. 2008. “Religious Sensations: Why Media, Aesthetics, and Power Matter in the Study of Contemporary Religion.” In de Vries, H. D, ed. Religion: Beyond a Concept. New York: Fordham University Press. 704-723.
Meyer, B. 2010. “Aesthetics of Persuasion: Global Christianity and Pentecostalism’s Sensational Forms.” South Atlantic Quarterly 109: 741-63.
Van der Geest, S. and Asante-Darko, N. K. 1982. “The Political Meaning of Highlife Songs in Ghana.” African Studies Review 25: 27-35.
Watkins, L. 2009. “Minstrelsy and Mimesis in the South China Sea: Filipino Migrant Musicians, Chinese Hosts, and the Disciplining of Relations in Hong Kong.” Asian Music 40: 72-99.
Zhou, Y. 2017. Intercultural Marriage, Legal Status and Social Belonging in China: Chinese-African Couples and Families in Guangzhou. PhD Dissertation: Universitä̈t zu Köln, Germany.
Discography
Oluaka, B. O. c.2008. Oluaka in China: Ife N’eme Na Chinco. Nigeria: Shalom Music Ltd.
Otigba, I. O. 2010. Otigba in China: Ndidi Amaka. Guangzhou: Flavor Entertainment Production.
Personal communication with Author Oyali, U. 8 August 2014, Guangzhou.
Field recordings by author Mora, Manolete 2010 Guangzhou fieldnotes. 2011 Guangzhou recording of J Hou. 9 July.
Bertoncello, B. and Bredeloup, S. 2007. “The Emergence of New African ‘trading posts’ in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.” China Perspectives 1: 94-105.
Bodomo, A. 2009a. “Africa-China Relations in an Era of Globalization: The Role of African Trading Communities in China.” [全球化时代的中非关系：非洲在华贸易 团体的角色]. West Asia and Africa《西亚非洲》 8: 62-7.
Bodomo, A. 2009b. “Africa-China relations: Symmetry, Soft power, and South Africa.” The China Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China 9: 169–78.
Bodomo, A. 2010. “The African Trading Community in Guangzhou: An Emerging Bridge for Africa–China Relations.” The China Quarterly 203: 693-707.
Bodomo, A. 2012. Africans in China: A Sociocultural Study and its Implications on Africa- China relations. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.
Bodomo, A. 2018. “The Bridge is not Burning Down: Transformation and Resilience within China’s African Diaspora Communities.” African Studies Quarterly 17: 63-83.
Carling, H. Ø. H. A. J. 2006. “On the Edge of the Chinese Diaspora: The Surge of Baihuo Business in an African City.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 28: 639-632.
Castillo, R. 2014. African Musicians in Search of the “Chinese Dream”: Beyond the Narratives of Trade and “Immigration” [Online]. Hong Kong: Asiart Archive. http:// www.aaa.org.hk/ [Accessed on 22 October 2019].
Chiu, J. 2017. China has an Irrational Fear of a “Black Invasion” bringing Drugs, Crime, and Interracial Marriage [Online]. New York: Quartz. https://qz.com/945053/ china-has-an-irrational-fear-of-a-black-invasion-bringing-drugs-crimeand- interracial-marriage/ [Accessed on 22 October 2019 2019].
Haugen 2011, Bodomo 2010 and 2012, Chiu, J. 2017. China has an Irrational Fear of a “black invasion” bringing Drugs, Crime, and Interracial Marriage [Online]. New York: Quartz. https://qz.com/945053/ china-has-an-irrational-fear-of-a-black-invasion-bringing-drugs-crimeand- interracial-marriage/ [Accessed on 22 October 2019].
Haugen, H. Ø. 2012. “Nigerians in China: A Second State of Immobility.” International Migration 50: 65-80.
Haugen, H. Ø. 2013. “African Pentecostal Migrants in China: Marginalization and the Alternative Geography of a Mission Theology.” African Studies Review 56: 81-102.
Ibukun, Y. 2012. Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry eager to make Pirates Part of Sea Change. [Online]. UK: Theguardian (Beta). http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/ poverty-matters/2012 /dec/14/nigeria-entertainmentindustry- pirates-sea-change [Accessed on 22 October 2014].
Kalu, O. 2008. African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lan, S. 2016. “The Shifting Meanings of Race in China: A Case Study of the African Diaspora Communities in Guangzhou.” City and Society 28 (3): 298- 318.
Li , Z., Ma , L. J. C. & Xue, D. 2013. “An African Enclave in China: The Making of a New Transnational Urban Space.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 50: 699-719.
Liu, C. 2017. Guangzhou Community Shrinks Under Police Pressure, Economic Changes.” Global Times, 26 March.
Luedi, J. 2018. “Goodbye Chocolate City: The death of Asia’s largest African community.” [Online]. Asia by Africa. https://www.asiabyafrica.com/point-a-to-a/littleafrica- guangzhou-china [Accessed on 25 March 2019].
Marsh, J. 2016. “The African Migrants Giving up on the Chinese Dream.” http://edition. cnn.com/2016/06/26/asia/africans-leaving-guangzhou-china/index.html [Accessed on 25 March 2018].
Mathews, G., Lin, D. & Yang, Y. 2014. “How to Evade States and Slip Past Borders: Lessons from Traders, Overstayers, and Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong and China.” City & Society 26: 217-238.
Mathews, G. & Yang, Y. 2012. “How Africans Pursue Low-End Globalization in Hong Kong and Mainland China.” Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 41: 95-120.
Meyer, B. 2008. “Religious Sensations: Why Media, Aesthetics, and Power Matter in the Study of Contemporary Religion.” In de Vries, H. D, ed. Religion: Beyond a Concept. New York: Fordham University Press. 704-723.
Meyer, B. 2010. “Aesthetics of Persuasion: Global Christianity and Pentecostalism’s Sensational Forms.” South Atlantic Quarterly 109: 741-63.
Van der Geest, S. and Asante-Darko, N. K. 1982. “The Political Meaning of Highlife Songs in Ghana.” African Studies Review 25: 27-35.
Watkins, L. 2009. “Minstrelsy and Mimesis in the South China Sea: Filipino Migrant Musicians, Chinese Hosts, and the Disciplining of Relations in Hong Kong.” Asian Music 40: 72-99.
Zhou, Y. 2017. Intercultural Marriage, Legal Status and Social Belonging in China: Chinese-African Couples and Families in Guangzhou. PhD Dissertation: Universitä̈t zu Köln, Germany.
Discography
Oluaka, B. O. c.2008. Oluaka in China: Ife N’eme Na Chinco. Nigeria: Shalom Music Ltd.
Otigba, I. O. 2010. Otigba in China: Ndidi Amaka. Guangzhou: Flavor Entertainment Production.
Personal communication with Author Oyali, U. 8 August 2014, Guangzhou.
Field recordings by author Mora, Manolete 2010 Guangzhou fieldnotes. 2011 Guangzhou recording of J Hou. 9 July.
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Published
2019-12-01
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Section
Articles
How to Cite
“‘THIS COUNTRY OF CHINA IS TOUGH’: NIGERIAN IMMIGRANT MUSIC MAKING IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA”. 2019. African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music 11 (1): 29-48. https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v11i1.2291.
