Ode to Africa's Urban Space

Abstract

This chapter examines Cameroonian and Nigerian pop singers' portrayals of urban cities in their respective countries of origin. Using a textual analysis of 10 popular songs composed by these pop singers, the chapter argues that popular musicians in the two countries tend sometimes to challenge negative stereotypes which over the years have represented Cameroonian and Nigerian cities exclusively as under-developed, primitive, exotic, and dangerous spaces. Through their lyrics and pop videos, these musicians often portray cities such as Douala, Nkonsamba, Bamenda, Kribi, Limbe (of Cameroon), and Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Calabar (of Nigeria) as beautiful places, fast-developing towns, lands of multiple tourist attractions as well as the homelands of very dynamic political elites. Some of these musicians, however, nuance their representations of the 9 cities mentioned above through portrayals which rather endorse a number of gloomy popular myths. By such myths, Cameroonian and Nigerian urban cities – like other African metropolises – are not immune from the common vices and challenges (notably insecurity, growing rate of criminality, pollution, and slums) plaguing even the biggest and most urbanized cities of the world.