The History of Use of Recordings of Popular Music in Zambia’s Electoral Campaigns

Since 1991, when Zambia re-transitioned to multi-party politics, recordings of Zambian popular music have been used during electoral campaigns to mobilize publics and disseminate politicians’ manifestos. Music was at the center of the struggle that led to the country’s independence from Britain on October 24, 1964 (Sardanis, 2003). In this scenario, Zambia’s indigenous dance, singing, and chanting were performed live during political rallies and marches as a way of mobilizing and disseminating nationalistic messages to the African population (Namuyamba et al, 2018). However, use of recordings of popular music in Zambia’s political campaigns began to gain prominence in the 1990s after the re-introduction of multiparty politics, coinciding with the emergence of home studios. Political parties have since been drawing on recordings of Zambian popular music to popularize their agendas and articulate their manifestos to the usually divided electorate. Drawing on participant observation, interviews, and published literature on Zambia’s socio-economic history and music and politics in Zambia, I trace the history of use of recordings of popular music in Zambia’s electoral campaigns. I argue that modes of musical production in home studios on digital audio workstations (DAW) have made it easier for producers to promptly produce music on request to the advantage of politicians who are eager to mobilize the electorate’s support amidst contestation. I further examine how recordings of Zambian popular music have been used as a site to engage in political discourse with imagined publics, particularly during Zambia’s 2021 general elections that were held during the COVID pandemic.