Kofi Agawu and the future of African musicology: a critical tribute

The study of African music has matured. From the days of comparative musicology, through the ethnomusicology era, the field now stands at a point where African musicology allows African musical ideas to be expressed in their own terms. Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia is widely credited as the founding figure. Within the company of senior scholars who have carried that project forward, including Akin Euba, Meki Nzewi, Joshua Uzoigwe, Kwasi Ampene, and others, Victor Kofi Agawu has made a particular contribution. His analytical and theoretical intervention has reshaped how African music is heard, analysed, and taught in global academic discourse. Agawu turns 70 on 28 September 2026. This tribute reflects on his six monographs, their sequencing, and their positioning within global academic discourse. The study examines how his methodological interventions have moved African musicology to a place where theory, form, and analysis interface with the music of the continent.