Description
Maurice Amateshe, PhD
Department of Music and Dance
Kenyatta University
Protest and identity are salient terms that encapsulate a product and the individual. While the protest in whichever form defines the message, how it shapes the identity of the messenger is critical. In this paper I (1) demonstrate the changing configurations of inter-subcultural protest music in the contemporary urban spaces shunning the usual political rhetoric (2) the deconstruction of traditional forms of “coated” protests to more robust defiance that establishes an “empire” and (3) a persistent pattern that inspires new counter-identities among the youth. Is it a sustainable protest movement or an ephemeral musical excitement? Interviews with performing artists in the protest genres, watching relevant music videos and listening to relevant protest music in Kenya will inform primary and secondary data respectively. Gregg’s theory of Protest Rhetoric will guide the discussion.
