Abstract

In this chapter, I argue that Zimdancehall is a subcultural movement through which the margin is coaxed to the centre through the music’s irruptive presence that disturbs the peace in a brazenly vulgar way. The marginalised, in this case, are people from Zimbabwe’s ghettoes. These ghettoes, especially Mbare, are the epicentre of this movement in terms of the creation, dissemination and consumption of music. I further argue that like many youth subcultures, Zimdancehall seems to be at loggerheads with the parent culture, demonstrating how the youths’ passage to adulthood, formerly regarded as being presided over by adults, is characterised by a shift in responsibilities. This shift sees the youth becoming adults quickly and crafting their own ways of being in the world. The youth, once touted as the future, now do not see a future for themselves if they follow the same old ways unless they do things their own way. The youth’s condition of marginality also allows them to make music away from adult surveillance. This explains why, when the subcultural movement started, it was associated with underground, marginal and informal spaces like backyard studios, illegal passa-passa gatherings that would get disrupted by the police, sting clashes that would end with the youth being tear-gassed, informal barbershops and kombis. These spaces enabled a flourishing of imagination that allowed the marginal, bare and vulgar life of the ghetto to be aestheticised into something that screamed stridently, making its presence known against any attempts to stop it. In order to buttress these observations, I select artistes from the whole repertoire of Zimdancehall performers whose lyrics represent the marginal and vulgar invading the centre.

Original language	en
Pages (from-to)	27-57
Publication status	Published - 2024