People love African music for its rhythmic power, instrumental hues and group energy. However, these attributes for which it is loved can be misinterpreted as cultural logics. In this opinion piece, it is argued that one should not apply the concepts of autonomous sound, written composition and that of a passive listener to African musical aesthetics but rather, embrace the concepts of relation, embodiment and socially useful music. Three claims are developed in the article. The first claim is that native instruments are not just instruments that produce sound, but material archives of language, memory, craftsmanship, spirituality and social authority. Secondly, the rhythmic devices of polyrhythm, ostinato, syncopation and micro-timing and call-and-response are also forms of social intelligence, which coordinate difference without uniformity. Thirdly, participation in the experience of music and dance is important in determining aesthetic value, as the experience of African performance is co-created with the musicians, dancers, audiences, spaces, costumes and occasions. The article however, challenges the idea of a ‘Music of Africa’ and provides a regional, historical and gendered perspective. It also argues that digitalization, global circulation and hybridization in themselves are not threats as long as communities have the interpretative authority, ownership, and benefit. Preserving sustainable practice must thus go beyond archiving and embrace living transmission via education, apprenticeship, instrument making, performance and community led technological practice. The beauty of African music is not in isolation but in continuity by means of creative change.
Keywords: African musical aesthetics, African rhythm, Cultural Identity, Indigenous instruments, Musical Heritage, embodied performance
