Abstract

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.

“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

Joe Trapido works in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies. A fan of Congolese music, he is also a follower of Congolese society and politics more generally. His work has been published in the New Left Review and in Africa.