ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two inescapable aspects of everyday life: popular music and homophobia. It focuses on sub-Saharan Anglophone Africa, where homophobia is well publicized, the discussion is not limited to the region. In recent decades, in fact, scholars from a variety of disciplines have explored how the arts can help to direct or change attitudes. The expectation that aesthetic expression – including music – could impact attitudes is rooted in research indicating that affect rather than cognition is the best predictor of attitudes and behaviour. Homophobia has found its way into music with wide appeal, notably in heavy metal, country music, and hip hop (primarily in the United States) and in dancehall and reggae (primarily in Jamaica). One of the most explicit and far-reaching homophobic songs is by popular Jamaican dancehall singer Buju Banton. Music has the power to move individuals – and eventually communities and institutions – to reimagine aspects of the world in which they live.
