Bilby 2000 Maroons

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2000CambridgeUniversityPress.
Popular Music (2000)Volume 19/3. Copyright(C)
Printedin the United Kingdom
Making modernity in the

hinterlands: new Maroon musics
in the Black Atlantic
KENNETH BILBY
Introduction
Born in mortal opposition to the peculiarlymodern forms of slavery that helped to
usher in a new era of European world domination, the Maroon societies of the
Americas have long provided theorists of identity operating in the realm that has
come to be known as the BlackAtlanticwith a potent symbolic currency.lNowhere
has this currencyacquiredhigher value than in the Caribbeanregion, where ques-
tions of identity are so fundamentallybound up with historiesof plantationslavery.
The runaway slave has had a special place in the literatureof the anglophone
Caribbean;and francophone,hispanophoneand Dutch-speakingCaribbeanwriters
have all displayed a similarfascinationwith the Maroonepic.2In more recenttimes,
popular music - a medium that has played a primaryrole in the constitutionof a
truly diasporic sense of identity spanning the BlackAtlantic - has helped to carry
consciousnessof a heroic Maroonpast across the globe. Both practitionersof Carib-
bean (or other Afro-American)popular musics and those who write about them
continue to reference the Maroons of yore, often tracing the rebellious thrust of
much of today's music to these original Black warriors,whose defiant spirit, it is
felt, continues to inhabit and motivate the collective memory (Aly 1988, pp. 55-7,
65; Zips 1993, 1994;Leymarie1994).3
In both literaryand popular culturalproductions,images of the Maroonusu-
ally serve an essentialising function. Not only do Maroons embody such positive
values as defiance,resistanceand autonomy,but they representan original cultural
authenticity never compromised by the experience of plantation slavery. In their
remoteness, it is sometimes thought, these escaped slaves were able to preserve
what elsewhere was lost. Because of their separatist mode of existence, they are
imagined as having maintaineda sacred,pre-modernculturalpurity. Froma certain
anti-hegemonicperspective,the originalMaroonsstand for the survival and regen-
eration of all that was noble in the African characterbefore this was corruptedby
colonialismand slavery - qualities such as culturalintegrity,social wisdom and an
ability to live in harmony with the forces of nature.For some, this romanticimage
symbolises the very essence of a putative original African selfhood waiting to be
reclaimed throughout the diaspora. This kind of essentialising imagery clearly
shares something with the various Blacknationalismsdeconstructedby Paul Gilroy
in TheBlackAtlantic(Gilroy 1993A) and other works. Like the latter,it glosses over
complex and differentiatedlocal histories and can lead toward cultural myopia,
even as it points the way to social utopia.
265

266 KennethBilby
But what of the Maroonsof today?Whatof the actual,here-and-nowMaroons,

those whose forebearsdisappearedinto the forests and swamps only to re-emerge
victorious at a later point, with their hard-won freedom and separate identities
intact?What of the direct descendants of those flesh-and-bloodindividuals whose
historicalstruggles have been appropriatedand enshrined within the largercollec-
tive consciousness? It is well known by now, particularlyamong students of the
African diaspora, that in the Guianas, Jamaica,Colombia, Brazil and elsewhere,
such living descendants of escaped slaves have maintained distinct Maroon com-
munities, identities and culturaltraditionsup to the present (Price1996).Less well
known is the fact that, in each of these places, these contemporaryMaroonpeoples
are rapidly being incorporated not only into the nation-states that have long
enclosed their territories,but the global system of relationshipsand exchanges of
which the BlackAtlanticis an integralpart.Whateverelse can be said about Maroon
peoples in the late twentieth century,it is no longer possible (if, indeed, it ever was)
to characterisethem as isolated enclaves cut off from the 'modern'world. Indeed,
inhabitants of Maroon communities today - whether in Jamaica or Suriname,
FrenchGuiana or Colombia- are as caught up in the processes of modernisation,
migration and globalisation claiming so much attention these days, as are their
fellow countrymenliving in urban centres.
In this paper, I briefly examine some of the ways in which the popular musics
of the BlackAtlanticare being appropriatedby young Maroonmusicians in differ-
ent countries,and are being used by them to mediate and define their relationships
to the globalising constructionsof identity - and particularly,Black identity- so
closely associated with the transnationalspread of such musics. The new Maroon
musics emerging from this process, I argue, clearly demonstratehow essentialist
constructionsof identity that depend on notions of culturaluniformity can mean-
ingfully coexist with local specificityand inevitable culturaldifference.
Although these young Maroonsare hardly alone in using popular musics to
harmonise apparent contradictionsbetween local and global conceptions of ident-
ity, theirs would appear to be an especially significant case. For one thing, the
privileged place occupied by their ancestorsin the rhetoricand symbolism of Black
nationalismprovides them with a unique point of entry into popular discourses of
Blackresistance,and puts them in a special position to reach out and to speak with
a certainauthorityto others within the Africandiaspora.At the same time, it must
be rememberedthat these Maroon musicians come from societies that have long
been known for secrecy and the exclusion of outsiders. To a large extent, present-
day Maroons continue to abide by the principle of secrecy that protected their
ancestors in past centuries from attempts to annihilate or re-enslave them. What
this means is that even as Maroon musicians have begun to participatein trans-
nationalforms of popularculturethat help to promoteand define globalisingident-
ities in the broadestpossible terms, they continue in their daily lives to take part in
local cultural and religious systems that employ complex, protective codes of sec-
recy and evasion to exclude non-Maroons.4Because identity can exist on several
levels, young Maroons who in certain contexts maintain rigid ethnic boundaries
between themselves and non-Maroonpeople of Africandescent (who are classified,
along with all other non-Maroons,as outsiders) may nonetheless find it possible in
other contexts to join in heartfelt calls to internationalBlack solidarity. Popular
music provides an effective vehicle for both levels of identification,local and global.

Makingmodernityin the hinterlands 267
WailingAluku rootsin FrenchGuiana

I am French Guianese. More precisely, I am an Aluku, who are the people who, like my
grandparents,were slaves, but escaped from the plantationsin Suriname.They set them-
selves free, even before the abolitionof slavery. My roots are very importantto me, because
it's my culture,my story. A tree without roots is nothing. Of course,Africais also part of my
culture,but from a long time ago. (ClaudiasAssabal,guitaristand singer with WailingRoots,
interviewed for American television at the Festival Internationalde Louisiane, Lafayette,
Louisiana,1993)5
Deep in the Guianese rain forest, on the border of FrenchGuiana and Surin-
ame, lies the traditionalterritoryof a Maroonpeople called the Aluku, also known
as the Boni. Here, in the village of Maripasoula- more than two hundred miles
from the nearest coastal town, in a region that remains reachableonly by canoe or
small aircraft- live the members of Wailing lloots, French Guiana's best-known
Maroonreggae band.6
The Aluku are the direct descendantsof enslaved Africanswho escaped from
coastal plantations in the Dutch colony of Surinamebeginning in the early eight-
eenth century.Known in the literatureof the time as the 'Cotticarebels',they fought
a prolonged war against the Dutch colonists, continuing their attackson the plan-
tations well into the late eighteenth century, even after other SurinameseMaroon
groups, such as the Ndyuka and Saramaka,had concluded peace treatieswith the
Dutch. One of the early leaders of the Aluku, a great warriornamed Boni, lives on
as a hero and a centralsymbol of Blackresistanceto this day, in both Surinameand
FrenchGuiana.
The early struggles of the Aluku were given literaryimmortalityby the British
mercenaryand writerJohnGabrielStedmanin his famous book, Narrativeof a Five-
Years'Expeditionagainst the RevolDed Negroesof Surinam(Stedman 1971 [1796]).
Because this stirring account has been published in many editions and translated
into several languages, the achievementsof the ancestors of the Aluku are widely
recognised today by historians and students of resistance to slavery (see Hoog-
bergen 1990).But few are aware that the descendants of these warriorscontinue to
exist as a distinct people, and that the culture and language they have maintained
are, along with those of the five other surviving GuianeseMaroon 'tribes'or ethnic
groups (the Saramaka,Ndyuka, Paramaka,Matawaiand Kwinti),the most African
in the entire western hemisphere (Hurault 1961, 1970). Today, the Aluku number
between 2-3,000. Their social organisation continues to be based on a series of
matrilinealclans united under the rule of a paramount chief, known as gaanman
(Givens 1984;Bilby 199OB). Like the other Guianese Maroon peoples, they speak a
creole language which, though its vocabulary is derived largely from English, is
not mutually intelligible with any of the CaribbeanEnglish-basedcreoles spoken
outside of Suriname(such as JamaicanCreole or Guyanese Creole) (Hurault1983).
Linguistscharacterisethese unique GuianeseMaroonlanguages as 'radicalcreoles',
because they differ more radically from the Europeanlanguages that contributed
to them than do any of the other creole languages spoken in the Black Atlantic
(partly,some argue, because of a higher degree of Africaninfluence).
Although FrenchGuianahas been an overseas departmentof Francesince the
late 1940s, it was not until 1969, when the interior was politically integrated with
the coastal area, that the traditionalAluku territorywas fully incorporatedinto the
Frenchstate. Since that time, the Aluku have been undergoinga rapidand profound
process of transformation.Large-scalemigrationto coastaltowns, an imposed econ-

268 KennethBilby
omy of consumption,and Frenchassimilationistpolicies are only the most promi-

nent of a series of forces producing radicalchange in Aluku society (Bilby 199OB).
Growingup in a neocolonialFrenchoverseas department,young Alukus have
been faced with the ongoing necessity of defining and redefining themselves in
relation to both the encroachingFrenchstate and the dominant Creole society and
culture of coastal FrenchGuiana.Within this complex modern context, the cosmo-
politan styles of Afro-Caribbeanpopularmusic importedfrom the coastalregion in
recent years have provided them with a ready-madevehicle for the negotiationof
local versus broadernotions of identity. It should come as no surprisethat reggae,
the Jamaicanmusical style that has blossomed into a majorinternationalmedium
of pan-Africanismover the last two decades, has come to play a particularlypromi-
nent role in the negotiationof identitiesin an Afro-Caribbeansociety such as French
Guiana.Nor should it be surprisingthat one of the best reggae bands to come out
of this Frenchoverseas department,Wailinglloots, should emergeamong a Maroon
people such as the Aluku.
The founding membersof Wailing lloots - as the Jamaican-soundingname of
the band implies - were inspired by the themes of Black redemption and social
justice common to so many of the Rastafarianreggae songs of the 1970s. In the
popular music of BlackJamaicansthey saw their own historicalexperienceclosely
mirrored- their ancestors' forced removal from Africa, their historical struggles
against enslavement, and their determinationto protect the freedom and cultural
autonomy won with these ancestors'blood. In the words of keyboardistand singer
Figure 1. WailingRoots,from the coverof theirfirst album. Photo:Henri Griffit.Courtesyof Wailing

Makingmodernityin thehinterlands 269
Wah Dada I. Rasc: 'In [Jamaican]reggae, so many of the things they sing about
connectwith us. Reggae has a little bit of Africain it, because Jamaicansthemselves
are almost Africans.They were slaves, and they had their drums too.'7At the same
time, the membersof WailingRoots also saw in this music an appealing,cosmopoli-
tan world with all the signs of 'modernity'.Here, in these modern diasporicsounds,
they detected not only the vibrations of an expanded sense of Black identity and
power of truly global dimensions, but the possibility of a utopian internationalism
transcendingracial divisions. Says guitaristand singer Claudias:'Reggae is one of
those musics that puts forward what's currentlyhappening in the world: war ...
and peace and love too. It tells all.'8
In one of their earlier songs, entitled 'Followers',they identified themselves
explicitly with the internationalcommunity of Rastafari,and voiced their support
for the goals of the Rasta movement, which they had gleaned from imported
Jamaicanrecordings - particularlythe goal of Black unity in the face of racial
g
oppresslon.
CHORUS:I and I are the followers of Rasta(4 times)
Jahchildrenmust come together
togetheras one
Jahpeople must come together
togetheras one
to fight all over the world
for our freedom
JahJahput us here, in this world
to survive
JahJahput us here
to make things right
but they fight our love
they want to take us apartl°
On the same LP, they included a song called 'BlackAloukou', in which the
question of identity is more narrowly focused. The stress in this song is on a more
specific Blackidentity - their own Aluku identity, and the particularexperienceof
marronagein which it is historicallyrooted. Whereas the first two verses contain
images of a past that is shared by many others in the Blackdiaspora- the brutality
of slavery, and forced separation from one's ancestral culture - the final verse
recounts the heroic flight of the Aluku ancestors up the very river where their
villages remain today. The rest of the verse reminds listeners that these Maroon
ancestors (in implied contrast to the slave ancestors of the coastal Creole
population) fought for and won their own freedom;and that it was theirfounding
ancestor, the great warrior Boni, who led the way. By stressing the fact that their
ancestorsseized their own freedom, and claiming the heroic figure of Boni as their
own, the authors of the song set themselves apart from the majorityof people of
African descent in French Guiana (i.e. the Creole population). In the FrenchGui-
anese context, where Creoles have traditionallydenigrated contemporaryMaroons
as 'uncivilisedbush people', yet at the same time have glorified historicalMaroons
such as Boni as heroes of anticolonialresistance,the political significanceof these
lyrics is clear. Not only does the song make a powerful statement of ethnic pride,
but it presents an unmistakable challenge to both Creole and French notions of
culturalhegemony. To ensure that all those to whom the song is addressed under-
stand its message, it is sung in FrenchCreole, the closest thing to a lingua franca
in FrenchGuiana.ll

270 KennethBilby
,>eeling , ,9ubw
Figure 2. Coverof Wailing Roots' third album, Feeling & Dub. A traditionalcarvedAluku drum is
flanked by two lions. The lions symbolise both the Rastafarimovementand the Aluku warriorspirit.
Courtesyof Wailing Roots.
CHORUS:
mwen se an Black Aloukou
I am a Black Aluku
je suis un Black Aloukou
wi, mwen se ti moun esklav
tche-a-mwen ka plere mize
wi, mwen se ti moun esklav
disan ka koule an zye-mwen
lapo-mwen sikatrize
le mwen ka sonje a ye
disan ka koule an zye-mwen
rasin-a-nou rete deye
nou pe pa retrouve-y

I feel Black, oh lord, in my heart

monte la rot Maroni
nou kombat pou nou jwi lavi
Boni tire nou di kaptivite
aprezan nou an libete
I feel so Black in my heartl2
(CHORUS:
I am a Black Aluku [in French Creole]
I am a Black Aluku [in English]
I am a Black Aluku [in French]
yes, I'm a child of slaves
my heart moans misery
yes, I'm a child of slaves
blood flows in my eyesl3
my skin is scarred
when I remember the past
blood flows in my eyes
our root remained behind
we couldn't get it back
I feel Black, oh lord, in my heart [in English]
ascending the upper Maroni River
we fought to make the most of life
Boni rescued us from captivity
now we are free
I feel so Black in my heart [in English])l4
For all its insistence on the singularityof the Aluku experience,the song also
displays a cosmopolitan consciousness and an aesthetic that link it to the broader
African diaspora. The singer emotes with a bluesy intonation meant to convey the
suffering shared by his own ancestorsand those of Black people elsewhere in the
world, for whom the African-Americanblues has come to embody a diasporicsense
of pathos. When he sings in English, 'I feel so Blackin my heart',he is connecting
with those who sharethis feeling, whereverthey may be. And by singing the chorus
in three languages, he makes a statementabout the cosmopolitannature of Black-
ness.l5
In yet anothersong from the same LP, 'Seki I Chiking',the concernfor diasp-
oric Blacknessrecedes almost entirely out of view, as the focus shifts to a typical
Aluku village setting - an evening dance backed by traditionalAluku song and
drummingstyles, such as and
songet susa The lyrics, in the Aluku language,
awasa.l6
have a purely local resonance.

SPOKEN: disi na fu ala den lobi man fu a liba
den n'e sipan. . . soso lobi. . .
ee, Aluku Liba

san e pasa
na libi na wan
na dati wi wani
na dati na lobi
ee, Aluku uman
a lobi na yu

272 KennethBilby
Figure 3. Aluku Maroon men dancing songe, 1989. Photo:Henri Griffit.Courtesyof AssociationMi
Wani Sabi.
a lobi na mi
kon seki i sikin
na dati wi lobi
na dati den lobi
te i e kon na a dansi
ala den man e bali
yu na wan seksi lobi
na dati den lobi
na dati wi lobi
kon seki i sikin
na dati wi lobi
mol-mol songe
. .
na dati wi lobi
aleke
na dati wi lobi
djompo susa
na dati wi lobi
paata awasal7
(SPOKEN: this is for all the lovers in the area [lit., on the river]
they won't get tense. . . strictly love. . .
oh, Aluku River [i.e. the traditional Aluku territory]

what's happening
is that we're living as one
that's what we want
that's what love is
oh, Aluku woman
love is you
love is me
come move your body
that's what we like
that's what they like
when you come to the dance

all the men shout out [in appreciation]

you're a sexy lover
that's what they like
that's what we like
come move your body
that's what we like

beautiful songe
that's what we like
aleke
that's what we like
jumping susa
that's what we like
getting down with awasa)l8
Here, the singer is clearlyaddressinghis own people. The language is his own, and
is intelligibleonly to Alukus, or to otherMaroonsfrom closely relatedethnic groups
such as the Paramakaand Ndyuka. The overt political commentaryis gone, and
the lyrics dwell on love, and the sensual and aesthetic pleasures of dancing -
whether one moves one's body to the modern sound of reggae or to neo-African,
drum-based Maroon styles such as songe, aleke, susa or awasa. As strongly local
as this song's orientationis, it also displays cosmopolitanelements. As an example
of a song performedin 'lover's rock' style, it belongs to a particularromanticgenre
of reggae that has been popular in Jamaicaand Britainsince the 1970s,and is now
well established throughout the Black Atlantic. Interestinglyenough, in the work
of Wailing Roots, this romanticgenre tends to be associated with those songs that
are most narrowly focused - songs aiming specifically at an Aluku, or at least
Maroon,audience.l9
If there is a single Wailing Roots composition that most effectively unites
assertionsof local identity with cosmopolitanthemes, it is probably'OriginalAlou-
kou Soldiers', the title song of their second album. On the cover of this CD is a
slightly doctored reproduction of the famous 1791 engraving of 'A Rebel Negro
Armed & on His Guard',from Stedman'sNarrativeof a Five Years'Expeditionagainst
the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (Stedman 1971 [1796]).2°By featuring this dramatic
eighteenth-centurydepiction of a Maroon warrior- one of the most commonly
reproduced illustrations in books and articles about Maroons in the Caribbean-
above the words 'Original Aloukou Soldiers', the band makes apparent exactly
whose ancestors the courageous fighters made famous by Stedman's account are.
The title song itself suggests an unbroken continuity between the historical
struggles of these 'first-time'Maroonwarriorsand the effortsof their descendants-
the 'originalAluku soldiers' and 'freedomfighters'of today - to counteractongoing
threats to their own social and cultural survival, and by extension, those of Black
people and other oppressed peoples elsewhere in the world.
SPOKEN:all originalAluku soldiers
now I dedicate this one to all freedom fighters
whether you Blackor White
live ina east, west, north, and south
most of all
LutherMartinKing
MalcolmX
Bob Marley

274 KennethBilby
\M4ILI
Originals AloWou Sotc

V *
4
* '
ta
Figure4. Coverof WailingRoots'secondalbum,Original Aloukou Soldiers, basedon an engraving

by FrancescoBartolozzithat appearedin Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition against the
Revolted Negroes of Surinam (1796), byJohnGabrielStedman.Courtesyof WailingRoots.
Boni
Kwaku
respect due!
SUNG: ain't no men to stop us now
ain't no power to stop us now
original Aluku soldiers
we all are freedom fighters
we no need no M 16
we no need atomic energy
original Aluku soldiers
we all are freedom fighters
TOASTING: original, original
original soldiers [fighters]
me raggamuffin and me fight for survival

me raggamuffinand me international
me raggamuffinand me fight against apartheid
I'm a rebel, yes
yes, I'm terrible
don't you know I'm a freedom fighter
Ku Klux Klan can't stop me now
nobody can't come touch me
hear this:
booyaka,booyaka!
I going shoot them down
booyaka,booyaka!
freedom for Blackman!
SPOKEN:a mea de original soldier22
The multiple levels of identity to which young Alukus can lay claim in the l990s
are deftly interwoven in this anthem to Black resistance.The central theme of the
song is the continuity of Aluku identity, which remains firmly rooted in the local
historicalstruggles of the ancestorsand the specific culturaltraditionspassed down
from them. As the closing line of the last section declares (in JamaicanCreole):'it
is me (i.e. an Aluku Maroon descendant) who is the original soldier'. At the same
time, these claims to a special place in the annals of Black freedom-fightingare
situated within an explicitly cosmopolitancontext.The song is backedby a militant
reggae sound that has been updated with elements from the newer Jamaicandance-
hall, or 'raggamuffin',style - a youth-orientedgenre that now rubs shoulders with
other transnationalpopular styles in Kingston, Port of Spain, New York, London
and Paris.23The singer uses a pan-CaribbeanEnglish influenced by both Jamaican
Creole and Guyanese Creole, identifying himself as 'international',and a 'ragga-
muffin' - an exponent of the pop culture style that has spread in recent times from
urban Jamaicato disenfranchisedor disaffected youth in other parts of the world.
(Like young popular musicians in many other places, Wailing Roots routinely
employ JamaicanCreole or other Caribbeanisedforms of English in song lyrics as
a gesture of cosmopolitanismand a means of identifying with a largerBlackident-
ity, even though they do not speak them in everyday life.)24
In fact, throughout the song, there is a back-and-forthmovement between
local and diasporic images and references. The dedication at the beginning pro-
gresses through a succession of international icons of Black resistance, such as
MartinLutherKing, MalcolmX and Bob Marley,ending up with the singer's own
ancestor,Boni, and finally, the mythic Surinameseslave hero, Kwaku.25Laterin the
song, the singer employs an internationalsymbol of White supremacistideology,
the KKK,to create an esoteric Aluku subtext. When he asserts that the 'Ku Klux
Klan can't stop me, nobody can't come touch me', going on to boast that if they
should try, he will 'shoot them down', he is making an indirect reference to the
protection provided by the ancestral powers of the kumanticult. The African-
derived powers of kumanti were used by the eighteenth-centuryAluku warriors-
a fact confirmed both by oral tradition and in Stedman's account (Stedman 1971
[1796])- to deflect the bullets of Dutch soldiers, and are still used by their descend-
ants today for purposes of healing and protection.The song reminds young Alukus
and their Maroon counterpartsin Surinamethat these powers, if need be, can still
be called forth to aid the fight for 'freedomfor Blackman'.26

276 KennethBilby
Figure 5. Aluku men using machetes to demonstrate the protective powers of kumanti during a
performancein Cayenne, French Guianat 1989. Photo: Henri Griffit. Courtesy of Association Mi
.. t . ,> , .
wanl rasl.
The process of indigenisation exemplified in the foregoing songs has led to

yet other new musical developments among the Aluku. In Maripasoula,the same
village in the rain forest that Wailing Roots calls home, some young Maroon
musiciansrecently came togetherto form a band of anotherkind - an aleke band -
called Oudou Loutou.27Aleke is a neo-traditionalMaroon music that combines
elements from several older styles with newer influences;instrumentationin this
youth-orientedstyle, as in most traditionalAluku musical styles, is generally lim-
ited to drums and percussion.28Oudou Loutou,like other Aluku and Ndyuka aleke
bands, have brought reggae music - a genre that has done more than anything else
to help young Maroonsenvision themselves as part of a largerAfricandiaspora-
even closer to home than have electric pop bands such as Wailing Roots. On a
recent cassette release, Oudou Loutou includes a song called 'Regae' [sic],backed
by a new style of Maroon drumming created by stripping the reggae 'beat' down
to its rhythmicessentials;this new reggae-inflectedMaroonrhythm,played on the
aleke drums, resembles nothing so much as the traditionalnyabinghi rhythm of
JamaicanRastafarians,which itself was an importantinfluencein the originaldevel-
opment of reggae during the 1960s.29Over this stripped-downreggae rhythm, the
members of Oudou Loutou repeatedly chant the English words 'reggae every
time'.30(At one point, one of the singers intones the words 'Dja Lastafalait'- an
Aluku rendition of 'Jah Rastafari!')Recordings such as this provide proof that
young Maroon musicians have succeeded in making reggae truly their own. Both
Maroonreggae bands such as Wailing Roots and neo-traditionalaleke bands such
as Oudou Loutou have discovered that the communicative potential of this
imported pan-African/Caribbeanmusical style can be as fine-tunedto local realit-
ies, or as broadly calibratedto diasporicconcerns,as need be.
Hard Ndyuka sounds from Suriname

Across the river from the Aluku, in the interiorof Suriname,is the traditionalterri-
tory of the Ndyuka Maroons - along with the Saramaka,one of the two largest

Figure 6. Drummersfrom Aluku Maroon aleke band, Oudou Loutou, Maripasoula,French Guiana,
1991. Photo: K. Bilby.
SurinameseMaroonpeoples. The ancestorsof the Ndyuka, like those of the Aluku,

fled from coastal plantationsstartingin the early eighteenth century.In 1760,after
several decades of war, they made a treaty with the Dutch, which recognised their
freedom and their right to govern themselves. Since then they have maintaineda
distinct culture,language and political system (Thodenvan Velzen and van Weter-
ing 1988). Numbering roughly 20,000 today, they continue, like the Aluku, to be
governed by a paramountchief, or gaanman, and their society is still organised in
matrinilinealclans and lineages, some of which go back to the eighteenth century.
Theirlanguage,called Ndyuka, is very close to that of the Aluku (Huttarand FIuttar
1994).
Over the last two decades, increasingnumbersof young Ndyukas have been
migrating to coastal towns in search of employment opportunities. During the
1980s,when war brokeout in the interior,this streamof migrantsgrew into a flood,
as Ndyuka refugees sought shelter in urban areas (Thoden van Velzen 1990). By
the early 1990s, a large percentage of the Ndyuka population was living in the
capital of Paramaribo.The majorityof these Ndyuka city dwellers were young.
Within this new urban context, these young Ndyukas, along with their peers from
other Maroon groups such as the Saramaka,soon began to play a prominentrole
in the burgeoninglocal popular music industry (Bilby1999).
The contemporarypopular music of Suriname is far too rich and varied to
attempt a summary here, embracing as it does numerous styles, sub-styles and
trends. Even a brief descriptionof trends associated specificallywith young urban
Maroonmusicianswould requiremore space than we have here.3lBut a representa-
tive glimpse can be got by focusing on the work of the Excos, one of many young
Ndyuka bands based in the capital city today.
The Excos have mastered a cosmopolitan variety of urban popular styles,

278 KennethBilby
Figure7. KdyukaMaroondrummers,
Paramaribo,
Suriname,1991.Courtesyof Kifoko.
ranging from Jamaicanreggae and dancehall to CentralAfrican soukous and the

national popular style of Suriname,kaseko. What interestsus here is the way they
balance these diverse elements with others drawn from their own ancestral tra-
ditions, juxtaposing local and cosmopolitan referencesin such a way as to make
statementsabout themselves and their modern condition.LiketheirAluku counter-
parts,Wailing Roots, the Excos make music that is both ethnicallyspecific in orien-
tation and internationalin outlook- music in which different levels of identity
coexist harmoniously.Two brief examples should suffice.
In their reggae song 'Can'tControlMe', the Excos projectan image of street-
wise toughness and aggressive self-assurance,using the rhetoricof the Jamaican
'rude boy' or 'raggamuffin'to voice urban themes that resonate with their own
Ndyuka warriorpast. (In keeping with this militantpast, they refer to themselves,
on their cassettelabels and in performances,as 'the hardest',and their music as the
'hardestsound'.) 'Can'tControlMe' actually is loosely based on a Jamaicandance-
hall hit, 'FIot This Year', originally recorded by the late JamaicanDJ known as
Dirtsman(PatrickThompson).32 The song's derivationhelps to explainthe language
in which it is performed (an approximationof JamaicanCreole). But the Excos
remake the song into something entirely new.33Not only do they add verbal and
musical flourishes of their own to the original lyrics, but they throw in elements
from their own Ndyuka language, peppering their performancewith local refer-
ences.
SPOKEN:
special dedicate to all dem gangsterlike me
request,request

to all bad boy, all rude boy

nuff respect deh, nuff respect to all:
Ramgoeposse, Floraposse, Menkenposse
step up young life
SUNG:send, you send, send anotherone come

one an one, I gonna slow dem down
me seh me bad dis years
now weh dem a go do fi hold me?
now posse come, I wicked dis years
no way, no one to controlme
everyone, I come rough dis years
now weh dem a go do fi hold me?
and me seh one a dem come

dem cyaan hold me
ma na two a dem try
dem cyaan hold me
ma na three a dem come
dem cyaan hold me
ma na four a dem try
dem cyaan hold me
me seh me rough
an you no rougher dan me
but you wicked
an you no wicked dan me
I seh you tough
an you no tougher dan me
but you rough
an you no rougherdan me
me got to tell dem, all de raggamuffin

big up de dance
you know, de raggamuffinkeep on skank ina dance
all rude boy, all bad boy
step up ina life, seen34
Fromthe opening dedication- in which the vocalist greets by name a number

of dancehall 'posses' associated with particular Paramaribo neighbourhoods
(Ramgoe,Flora,Menken)where large numbersof young Ndyukas live - to the final
invitation to 'all de raggamuffin'to join in the dance, it is clear who the intended
audience is. The Excos are addressing young urban Maroons,especially Ndyukas,
who, like themselves, are struggling to survive their precariousnew condition as
proletarianson the peripheryof Suriname'scapital city. But the language they use
to do so is one that is common to marginalisedyouth - particularlyBlack urban
youth- in many other parts of the world. In this way, they identify with a globalis-
ing Black popular culture even as they interact with a local, primarily Ndyuka
audience that shares many of their daily experiences,their language, and a sense
of common Maroonorigins.
Referencesto these specific Maroonorigins are interspersedthrough much of
the Excos' music. Take, for instance, the following excerpt from a song called 'Sa
Moitia'. This song, which appears on the same cassette as 'Can't Control Me', is
sung in the Ndyuka language, and performed in a more locally oriented style of
popular music called kaseko.

280 KennethBilby
CHORUS:
tjai mi go a Ndyuka (3 times)
mi e go sete a libi na anda
tjai mi go a Saamaka
tjai mi go a Kotika
tjai mi go a Ndyuka
mi e go sete a libi na anda35
(CHORUS:take me to the Ndyuka territory
I'm going to make a life there
take me to the Saramakaterritory
take me to the CotticaNdyuka territory
take me to the Ndyuka territory
I'm going to make a life there)36
Here, the singer gives voice to the desire of many young urbanised Maroons -
whether Ndyukas, Saramakas,Alukus or Paramakas- to return one day to their
ancestralvillages in the forest so as to start a new life away from the confusion and
frustrationsof life on the urban fringe. In the music of the Excos and many other
young SurinameseMaroon bands, such ethnically specific themes and sentiments
regularlymingle with the transnationalsounds and concernsof the BlackAtlantic,
of which all Maroons,no matter how deep in the forest they may live, are now a
part.
Palenquero swing from Colombia

In the northernpart of Colombia,not far inland from Cartagena- a Caribbeanport
city that was once at the centre of the Spanish trade in Africanslaves - lies one of
the oldest Maroon communities in the Americas, Palenque de San Basilio. The
ancestors of the Palenquerosbegan escaping from coastal plantations during the
late seventeenthcentury,and by 1713had persuadedthe King of Spain to recognise
their freedom and their right to a territoryof their own. Today the Maroons of
Palenque retain many distinctive cultural characteristicsstemming from their
Maroon past, including a unique Spanish-lexiconcreole language that sets them
apartfrom other Colombians(Bickertonand Escalante1970;Friedemannand Patino
Rosselli 1983;Schwegler 1996).
Like young Maroons in the Guianas, large numbers of Palenqueroshave in
recent years joined the increasingflow of ruralpeople toward urbancentres,where
work is more easily had. Among the cities that have acted as magnets for Palen-
quero migrants are Barranquilla,Santa Marta and, especially, Cartagena;some
Palenqueroscan even be found as far afield as Venezuela. Today, Palenqueroven-
dors are a common sight along the tourist-packedbeaches of Cartagena,where
they hawk everything from sunglasses to hair-braidingservices; and Palenquero
market-womenare a conspicuous fixtureof the city's main marketplace.
The northerncoastal region of Colombia,in which Palenque de San Basilio is
located, has long been absorbing influences from popular musics originating in
other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean(Wade 1998, pp. 9-14).37 In past
decades, Afro-Cubanand other SpanishCaribbeanstyles loomed particularlylarge,
although a diverse smatteringof other cosmopolitanmusics, such as North Amer-
ican jazz, Argentinian tango, and a variety of Brazilianstyles, were also present;
more recently, the region has opened up to an amazingly eclectic array of foreign

musics ranging from reggae and salsa to Congolese soukous and South African
township jive (known locally as 'Soweto' - a term which has since been extended
by some musicians to cover all of the imported urban African genres that have
become popular in Colombia, from the juju music of Nigeria to the mbaqangaof
South Africa).38This new, cosmopolitan mix of styles is succinctly described by
the Colombian ethnomusicologist Egberto Bermudez (1994, p. 231): 'As a recent
phenomenon, in the marginal areas of cities like Cartagena,Barranquilla,and the
island of San Andres, young people dance to what they call terapiaand champeta, in
both cases a mixtureof elements of rap, reggae, and bits and pieces of Africanjuju,
soukus[sic], and other elements taken from new Caribbeanmusical styles from all
over the English and FrenchAntilles, and from Latinmusic from the United States,
Panama and Venezuela.'39The availabilityof imported records in these styles - as
well as locally licensed and pirated foreign recordings- has played a large part in
spreading their popularity.
The primarymedium through which these imported musics have reachedthe
coastal Colombian public is the local institution known as pico (from English,
'pick-up') - a kind of high-powered homegrown sound system used to spin the
latest hits at crowded dances (Bermudez1994,p. 232).4°This pico tradition,centred
in the strip of Caribbeancoastline that runs from Cartagenato Barranquilla,goes
back at least three decades; in certainrespects, it parallels the much better known
sound system culture of urban Jamaica(Leymarie1998, p. 47). Palenqueroshave
long been exposed to the wide variety of Afro-Caribbeanand African popular
musics that routinely find their way onto the turntables of the picoteros(sound
system operators).Indeed, according to a recent piece of investigative reporting,
many of the picoteros of Cartagenahail 'from the nearby AfricanMaroon enclave
of Palenque de San Basilio' (McLane1993, p. 64).41
It was only a matterof time before this multiplicityof diasporicsounds made
its way into locally recordedmusic. Not surprisingly,one of the first local bands to
reflect this stylistic eclecticism in its recordings, Anne Zwing, was founded by a
Palenquero Maroon named Viviano Torres, and included several other Palenqu-
eros.42Based in Cartagena,Anne Zwing has emerged in the l990s as one of the
most popular bands in coastal Colombia. (The name of the band, meaning 'they
swing', combines the Bantu-derivedPalenquero third person plural subject pro-
noun, ane, with the English word 'swing'.)43
Thereare few popular musical ensembles in the world that surpass the musi-
cal eclecticismof this band.44Most albumsby Anne Zwing featuresongs in a variety
of languages (such as Spanish,Palenquero,English, and several variantsof French
AntilleanCreole,as well as lyrics in a numberof differentAfricanlanguages copied
off imported recordings) and a broad variety of Caribbeanand African musical
genres (rangingfrom reggae, zouk, soca and merengue,to soukous and mbaqanga).
Although it would be possible to find songs in any of these styles to illustratethe
way in which Anne Zwing, like Maroon musicians in the Guianas, use diasporic
musics to identify with the larger Black world, the reggae song 'To Ane A Kele'
provides a particularlyclear example.
suto a mini di Afrika
suto a kita ri ai
si Kolombiatene
hende ki kanda reggae. . .

282 KennethBilby
Mama Afrikata kucha?

ke suto ta kanda
pa mahanabeni
si Kolombiatene
hendi k' kanda reggae. . .45
(we came from Africa
we were dragged away from there
if Colombiahad
people who sang reggae. . .
Mama Africa,are you listening?
we are singing
so that the youths will come
if Colombiahad
people who sang reggae. . .)46
It is apparentthat the lyrics of this song, since they are sung in the Palenquero
language, serve to position the Maroonmembersof Anne Zwing as a special people
within Colombiaand the larger Africandiaspora,with claims to a distinct Maroon
culture and language.47But the primary emphasis, as in a number of other songs
by Anne Zwing, is on common Africanroots and a sharedhistory of forcedremoval
from the motherland.Indeed, the members express the hope that by drawing on
the modern, pan-Africanappeal of reggae, as they do in this song, they will draw
other Afro-Colombians,and particularlythe young, toward a remembranceof their
shared African past - a past that links them with African descendants not just in
Colombia,but throughoutthe diaspora.48
Some of Anne Zwing's music, in contrast,projectsa more specificallyPalen-
quero orientation.This is sometimes done in a calculatedmanner,as an expression
of pride. When interviewed by a foreign musician and writer who paid him a visit
in Cartagenaa few years ago, Viviano Torrescommunicatedthe depth of his pride
in his Maroonancestralroots as follows:
He [Viviano]starts telling me about his home town, Palenque,a name that lies at the heart
of black culture on the north coast. He talks about the founding of Palenque,Palenquecul-
ture and traditions,the Bantu [sic] language of Palenque,illustrioussons of Palenque(three
world-titleboxers),music and dance of Palenque.Palenquewas founded as a marooncamp
in the seventeenthcenturyamid swamps an hour by car from Cartagena.The colonial auth-
orities never discovered the tortuouspath to the camp. The settlementremaineda centreof
fervent Africanism.Even today some of its inhabitantsstill speak Bantu [sic].49 Viviano had
takenthe traditionalmusic of Palenque,the terapia[sic] dance, and added it to his repertoire,
dressing it up for a wider audience.50(Shukman1992,p. 229)
There are numerous strategiesused by the membersof Anne Zwing to bring
Palenquero identity to the fore in their music. The emphasis in song texts, for
example, sometimes shifts from broaderdiasporicconcernsto purely local matters.
In some songs, outsiders are left to puzzle over highly esoteric lyrics whose only
significance,to them, is the confirmationthey offer of Palenqueroculturaldistinc-
tiveness. An excellent example is 'Zamba Urile', which sets the text of a sacred
Palenquerolumbalusong to a Trinidadiansoca beat. Even in Palenque itself, only
specialists in lumbalu'- a funerary tradition with Central African cultural roots,
practisednowhere else in Colombia- possess more than the most superficialknowl-
edge of esoteric songs such as this.5l
samba urile (di) ma nkis'e
kalunga lunga52

Figure 8. Viviano Torres,PalenqueroMaroon leader of Anne Zwing (from cover of the LP E1 Rey
del Caribe). Courtesyof Codiscos.
Figure 9 PalenqueroMaroonsperforminglumbalu,
Palenquede San Basilio, Colombia,1991. Photo:
K. Bilby.
By combiningthis crypticsacredtext with the popularsocabeat,the Palenquero

membersof Anne ZwingencouragetheirfellowAfro-Colombians - and perhaps
evenpeopleof Africandescentelsewherein the world- to dancealongto an affir-
mationof Palenquerouniqueness.
Conclusion
The preeminenceof music within the diverse black communitiesof the Atlanticdiasporais
itself an importantelement in their essential connectedness (Gilroy1991,p. 127)

284 KennethBilby
Muchof PaulGilroy'swork,andin particularTheBlackAtlantic,is concerned

with tensionsthatseem to inherein the modernconditionof thosewho makeup
the Africandiaspora.How can those who occupythis continuallyshiftingspace
avoidthe 'easyessentialism'of racialisedformsof nationalismwithoutlosingsight
of theveryreal,yet sometimeselusive,commonalities connectingpeopleacrossthis
space?Or,as Gilroy(1993B, p. 198)himselfputs it, 'cantherebe a globalblackness
thatconnects,articulatesandsynchronisesexperiencesandhistoriesacrossthe rad-
icallylocalformsof blackbeingthatdiasporaspacenow accommodates?'
Blackvernacularmusicof the diasporaprovidessome answersto this ques-
tion,for,as Gilroy(1993A,p. 36) argues,'thismusicalcultureoffersa meansto get
beyondthe relatedoppositionsbetweenessentialistsand pseudo-pluralists on the
one hand and betweentotalisingconceptionsof tradition,modernity,and post-
modernityon the other'.53Whatmakesthis transcending of oppositionspossibleis
the veryrealcommonaestheticthatcontinuesto underliethe almostinfinitevariety
of musicalexpressionthroughoutthe Africandiaspora- an aestheticbasedon a
generalway of making,feelingandthinkingaboutmusicthatgoesback,ultimately,
to Africa.WhatGilroy(1993A, p. 81)refersto as the 'commonsensibilities[ofpeople
in the Blackdiaspora]residuallyinheritedfromAfrica'are perhapsmoreclearly
revealedin musicthanin any otherculturalsphere.54
Thissharedmusicalaestheticis evidentnot only in older,traditionalmusical
practice,but in the new popularor vernacularstyles that have arisenout of the
encounterwith imported'modern'genres(Bilby199OA).For what ErnestBrown
(1994,p. 93) terms'musicalpan-Africanism' - 'a recognitionof the resonancein
musicalstyle and/or contentamongthe peoplesof Africaand the Africandiaspo-
ra' - continuesto guide the processesof musicaldevelopmentand exchange
throughoutthe BlackAtlantic.A primeexampleof suchmusicalpan-Africanism is
that of Jamaicanreggae- a genre that has penetratedvirtuallyall parts of the
Africandiaspora(including,as we haveseen,Maroonenclaves),not to mentionthe
Africancontinentitself(Bilby1983;Savishinsky1993;Zylbersztajn 1995),receiving
freshinfusionsof localelementsas it spreads.55 Thephenomenalappealof reggae
all acrosstheBlackAtlanticcannotbe explainedby politicallypotent,pan-Africanist
songtextsalone;deeply-feltmusicalresonancehascertainlyplayeda partas well.56
The propositionthat reggaesharescertain'essential'featureswith African
music- as well as with African-influenced musicselsewherein the world- has
gainedwide acceptance.But few have describedthe commonaestheticthatlinks
reggaewith these cognatemusicaltraditionsas elegantlyas does AlanWatersin
the followingpassagefocusingon the rhythmicdimension:
The meaning of the reggae rhythmlies in the creationand managementof rhythmictension.
This constant orientation toward rhythmic tension is behind the deep aesthetic affinity
between reggae music and Africancultures;it enables reggae to serve as a kind of container
into which musicians from vastly differentstyles and traditionsthroughoutAfrica can put
their own indigenous music. (Waters1994,p. 8)
Preciselybecauseof its capacityto 'contain'suchstylisticdiversitywithouterasing

it, reggae- likeotherglobalisingstylesof Blackpopularmusic- providesan attract-
ive meansof bridgingandmediatingthe localandtheglobal;withinits soundmay
be encodeda trulypan-African musical'essence'- as, forexample,in Bahia,Brazil,
where'thepeopleunderstandthe beatof reggaeas significantof blackconscious-
ness'(Browning1995,p. 132)- andat the sametimea senseof differencerootedin

By playingwith this potentialfor multipleidentification,

local realities.57 both in
music and song texts,popularmusicians in the BlackAtlantic are able,despitethe
highdegreeof culturaldifferentiation thatcharacterisesthe far-flungpeoplesof the
Africandiaspora,to participatein the modern'globalBlackness'of whichGilroy
writeswhile remainingtrueto the specificsof theirown lived experience.
The new musicalvarietiesthroughwhich Maroonsare definingtheir own
modernitywouldseemto be a casein point.Forthesediasporicstyles,claimedand
refashionedby Maroonsas theirown, are being used by them to mediatetheir
own uniqueformof 'doubleconsciousness'. ThisuniquelyMaroonvarietyof dual
consciousnesssimultaneouslyopposespresent-dayMaroonpeoplesto, and unites
themwith, theirnon-Maroon counterparts in the BlackAtlantic,who, as descend-
ants of enslavedAfricanswho never escapedfrom bondage,shareonly a part
(thougha crucialpart)of theseMaroons'historicalexperienceandculturalheritage
as Afro-Americans (Bilby1984,pp. 21-2).
In the new Maroonmusics,thesetensionsare temporarilyresolved.Because
the popularstyles of the diasporaallow flexibleidentificationalongmultiplecul-
turalaxes,theyprovidea meansof harmonising localconceptionsof identitystem-
ming fromspecifichistoriesof marronagewith the growingsigns of a globalising
BlackAtlanticconsciousness.In balancingthese countervailingvisions of their
world, young Maroonmusiciansmay be providingtheir own answerto what
Gilroy(1993B,p. 46) deems one of 'the decisivepoliticalquestionsof our age' -
namely,'how do we actlocallyand yet thinkglobally?'
Endnotes
1. An earlier version of this article was read at Otherdiscussionsof Maroonimages in Carib-
the 20th InternationalCongress of the Latin bean literarydiscourse can be found in Phaf
American Studies Association, Guadalajara, (1990),Bansart(1993)and Fleischmann(1993).
Mexico,19 April 1997,in a session entitled, 'A 3. One particularly striking example of the
Response to Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: degree to which the Maroonepic continuesto
TransnationalCultureFlows and the Creation inspire contemporaryurban musicians comes
of Modernity'.The session was organised by from Brazil,where the blocosafro(drumcorps)
Richard Shain. I would like to express my associated with carnival in Bahia (such as
gratitudeto ArminSchweglerfor his generous Olodum and Ile Aiye) have expended much
help with the transcriptionsand translationsof effort on rehabilitatingthe memory of the
Palenquerolyrics in the final section of the great seventeenth-centuryBrazilian Maroon
article,and to ThomasMortonfor sharingwith leaderZumbi.A recentarticlein the New York
me some of his recordings of Palenquero Timesreports that on 18 May 1993, 'a mixed
popularmusic. I have made repeatedattempts group of rural and urban black activists
to track down copyright holders so as to [includingmembersof Olodum and Ile Aiye]
requestformalpermissionsto reproducethose arrivedin Brasilia,the capital.As the pound-
song lyrics that appearin this article.In most ing of tall drums echoed off Government
cases,I was unableto locatecopyrightholders; buildings, protesters chanted: "Quilombos,
when I did find names and locationsof poss- here we are;my only debt is to the quilombo;
ible copyright holders, I attempted to com- my only debt is to Zumbi".' (Brooke 1993)
municate with them via letters, faxes and Interestingly enough, the influence of
emails,but never receivedreplies,despite sev- imported Rastafarianreggae - which, as we
eralefforts.Shouldany such copyrightholders shall see, has become an importantvehicle for
see this article,they are invited to contactthis Maroonpopular musiciansin FrenchGuiana,
journalif they wish formal resolutionof this Surinameand Colombiaas well - has played
question. an important role in this reclamationof the
2. For a recent analysis of the theme of marron- African(includingMaroon)heritagein Brazil
age in Jamaicanliterature,see Lalla (1996). (Crook1993).

286 KennethBilby
4. For more on Maroonsecrecy,see Price (1979; Rereleased on Wailing Roots' compact disc,
1983, pp. 5-26) on the SaramakaMaroonsof FeelingS Dub, Paris, Melodie ACP/CG 014,
Suriname,and Bilby (1981, pp. 7S7) on the 1995.Transcriptionby the author.
WindwardMaroonsof Jamaica. 13. My translation here is literal. An alternate
5. Broadcaston the television programme'Inter- translationcould be 'I cryblood',which would
national Jam', Louisiana Educational Tele- unambiguouslyconnect this lyric to a phrase
vision Authority,1993. and image ('cry blood') previously used in a
6. For more on WailingRoots and other Maroon numberof JamaicanRastafarianreggae songs.
reggae bands in French Guiana, see Bilby 14. Englishtranslationby the author.
(1989B;1991)and Anonymous (1988). 15. To give some idea of just how cosmopolitan
7. Interview with Wah Dada I. Rasc (Michel the members of Wailing Roots are in their
Dada), conducted by Kenneth Bilby, Maripa- tastes in popular music: among those they
soula, FrenchGuiana,21 August 1990.Trans- single out as 'international'Blackartistswhose
lation from Aluku by the author. music they listen to and enjoy are Third
8. Interview with Claudias Assabal, conducted World, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Gregory
by Kenneth Bilby, Maripasoula, French Isaacs,Prince,MichaelJacksonand LionelRit-
Guiana, 21 August 1990. Translation from chie. They are 'cosmopolitan'in other ways as
Aluku by the author. well. For instance, the first Wailing Roots
9. The flexible way in which the members of album was recorded in Paris (although their
Wailing Roots identify with the Rastafari twelve-inch single and their second album
movement illustratesboth their cosmopolitan were recordedand producedin Cayenne).Not
outlook and their respectfor their own Aluku only do they perform regularly in Cayenne
roots. Keyboardist Wah Dada I. Rasc, for and Paramariboalongside local Creolereggae
instance,was led to his stage name by a book bands such as Universal Youth, but they
on Rastafariwrittenin French.In this book, he appearedat the FestivalInternationalde Loui-
says, he learnedthat 'WahDada' is an Ethiop- siane in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1993. (The
ian/Amharic expression meaning 'peace and photo of them on the back cover of their
love'. But the main reasonhe decided to adopt second album was taken in New Orleans.)
the name is that Dada is also a traditional More recently, their song 'I've Been Waiting'
Aluku name, and was his deceased father's appeared on a widely distributedCD show-
name. While the band memberssupportwhat casing a variety of reggae artists from the
they see as the goals of Rastafari,they do not French Caribbean(Reggae DOM: The Best of
claim to be Rastas themselves, pointing out ReggaeFrench WestIndies, Paris,Declic50566-2,
that they are unwilling to forego their own 1996). In 1996 and 1997 they embarked on
African-basedAluku religion and to accept tours of Europe,which included,among other
that Haile Selassie is God; nor do they follow countries,Franceand Germany.
a strictItal diet; etc. 16. For backgroundon traditionalAluku music,
10. WailingRoots,'Followers',from the LP record see Bilby (1989A).
Feelings, Cayenne, Wailing Roots, 1991. Rere- 17. Wailing Roots, 'Seki I Chiking', from the LP
leased on Wailing Roots' compact disc, Feel- recordFeelings, Cayenne,WailingRoots, 1991.
ing S Dub, Paris,Melodie, 1995.Transcription Rereleased on Wailing Roots' compact disc,
by the author. Feeling S Dub, Paris, Melodie ACP/CG 014,
11. Several varieties of FrenchCreole are spoken 1995.Transcriptionby author.
in FrenchGuiana. The language used in this 18. Englishtranslationby the author.Paata awasa,
song is actually not Guyanais (French Gui- which I translate as 'getting down with
anese Creole) - which is spoken primarilyin awasa', literally means 'flat(ten) awasa'; the
coastal areas, and especially in the capital of phrase refers to a traditionalmovement used
Cayenne- but rather,a particularlocal variety in awasa dancing, executed when the lead
of FrenchCreolethat is used as a second lan- drummersignals the dancerto come forward
guage in the Aluku territory.Although this and dancein a crouchingposture,closerto the
local form is substantiallydifferentfrom coas- ground.
tal varieties,havingbeen heavilyinfluencedby 19. On theirsecond album,Original Aloukou Soldi-
St. Lucian French Creole (owing to ongoing ers, the band includes another lover's rock
migrationby St. Luciangold prospectorsinto number,'YouangaMi', similarlyperformedin
the Aluku territorysince the late nineteenth their own language.
century), it remains intelligible to coastal 20. This engraving,first publishedon 1 December
speakersof Guyanais. 1791, was done by FrancescoBartolozzi(see
12. Wailing Roots, 'BlackAloukou', from the LP Priceand Price 1988,p. xxxix).
recordFeelings, Cayenne,WailingRoots, 1991. 21. Anothersign of WailingRoots' cosmopolitan-

ism (and utopian inclinations)is the band's ensemble playing youth-orientedrecreational

inclusionof Whitesympathisers(in the phrase music, they changed the name to the more
'whetheryou Blackor White')in the opening neutral'OudouLoutou'.
dedication - a phrase that is also sometimes 28. Foradditionalinformationon aleke music, see
heard in JamaicanRastafarianreggae songs Bilby (1989A, B,1995A).
calling for social justice. 29. This nyabinghi-likesub-style of aleke drum-
22. 'O.A.S.' (Original Aloukou Soldiers) (by ming has existed since at least the early 1980S
Claude Assabal, C) BMG Music Publishing, (Bilby1989A) and is played by both Aluku and
France).Lyrics reproducedby permission of Ndyuka bands. Other commercialrecordings
the publisher.Fromthe compactdisc Original with examples of the style include Sapatia 91
Aloukou Soldiers, Paris,Declic Communication by Sapatia(cassette,DiscoAmigo, Paramaribo,
50364-2,1994.(Thepublisherrequestsmention 1991)and Sapatiaon the Move: Alekeby Sapatia
of the following: 'Paroleset Musiqueen vente (compactdisc, Sonoclair,Cayenne,1995).
chez votre marchandde Musique'.) 30. Oudou Loutou, 'Regae',from the cassetteGay
23. Fordiscussionsof the recentrise of a new 'rag- Sound, Oudou Loutou, Maripasoula,French
gamuffin'subculturein Jamaicaand its grad- Guiana,c. 1994.
ual internationalisation,see Bilby (1995B), 31. Fora detaileddescriptionof urbanSurinamese
Chude-Sokei(1994,1997)and Varasse(1993). popular music, including much information
24. The songwritersof WailingRootshave limited on present-dayMaroon musicians, see Bilby
knowledge of English. Since the late 1980s, (1999) (see also Bilby 1995A). Backgroundon
however, the band has had an anglophone the traditionalmusic of the Ndyuka and other
member. The first drummer, Harley, came SurinameseMaroonsmay be found in Hersko-
originallyfrom Georgetown,Guyana.(Aftera vits and Herskovits(1936) and Priceand Price
stint playing in Paramaribo,he met the other (1980, PP.171-83; 1999). Fora recentethnomu-
membersin Cayenne,where he was invited to sicological study of traditional Saramaka
join the band.) When Harley left the band, he Maroondrumming,see Agerkop (1991).
was replaced by Smiley (KenrickShepherd), 32. PatrickThompson(Dirtsman),'Hot ThisYear',
who is also originally from Guyana (former featuredon the compactdisc Hot This Year:The
BritishGuiana).Both Harley and Smiley have Album, VariousArtists,Freeport,NY, Tan-Yah
helped the other members with English (or RecordsTYCD002,1992.
English creole) lyrics. (These two drummers 33. Many of the changes in the lyrics no doubt
are the only non-Aluku members Wailing occurred because the members of the Excos
Roots has had.) had difficultyunderstandingthe words of the
25. Kwaku (spelled 'Kwakoe' in Dutch) is the originalversion. For instance,Dirtsman's'not
name that was given by the Creolepopulation even watercyaancool me' became'no way, no
to a statue that was erected in a prominent one to controlme' in the hands of the Excos.
location in downtown Paramariboin 1963 to 34. Excos, 'Can't Control Me', from the cassette
mark the centenaryof the abolitionof slavery Bari Nen Uma, Disco Amigo, Paramaribo,1995.
in Suriname. Since the statue portrays an Transcriptionby the author.
archetypalslave breakingfree of his chains,it 35. Transcriptionby the author.
is sometimes thought to representthe act of 36. Excos, 'Sa Moitia',from the cassette Bari Nen
marronage,and for some has come to serve as Uma, Paramaribo,Disco Amigo, 1995. English
a more general symbol of anticolonialresist- translationby the author.
ance. 37. Although Palenquede San Basilio, like other
26. In fact, several of the importantkumantiwar Marooncommunities,is often portrayedas an
obia of the Ndyuka and Aluku, passed down isolatedbastionof 'pure'Africanculture,it has
from the ancestors,were revived and used for long been exposed to a broad variety of out-
protection against bullets by young Maroon side cultural and musical influences. In the
guerrillas who went into battle against the early 1930S, Afro-Cubanmusic in particular
National Army of Suriname when civil war began to have a majorimpact there.For more
broke out in that country in the 1980s (see on the popularity of the Cuban son in
Thodenvan Velzen 1990,pp. 17S84). Palenque, and the new musical fusions that
27. Oudou Loutou (Udu Lutu) can be translated resulted when Palenquerosbegan to play it,
as 'roots' (literally, 'tree roots'). The band see Silva, Arriaand Provansal(1998).
members originally chose the name 'Boni 38. One must agree with DeborahPaciniHernan-
Loutou'- meaning'Boni'sroots'.Butaftersev- dez (1993B,p. 66) in her opinion 'that coastal
eral elders complainedthat it was disrespect- Colombiais in the vanguardratherthan in the
ful to use the sacred name of this Aluku mainstreamof regionalmusicaldevelopments,
founding ancestor in connection with an and thatthe transformationstakingplacethere

288 KennethBilby
are simply foreshadowing new patterns of soca, reggae and African soukous,as well as
musical interactionsthat are just now becom- modernised versions of a locally-specific
ing visible elsewhere'. African-derivedtradition,the chande'.' (Seealso
39. For more on the still-marginalisedpopular Silva and Provansal1998.)
music scene that has producedthis amazingly 45. Anne Zwing, 'To Ane A Kele', from the LP
diverse and cosmopolitan champeta/terapia record El Rey del Caribe,Cartagena,Codiscos
dance music in Colombia'sAtlanticregion,see 298 21316, 1989. Transcription by Armin
Leymarie (1998) and Silva and Provansal Schwegler.
(1998). 46. Englishtranslationby ArminSchwegler.
40. For a detailed, scholarly look at the pico 47. Other Palenquero popular musicians con-
phenomenon,focusing specificallyon the city sciously employ theirdistinctiveculturalheri-
of Cartagena,see Pacini Hernandez (1993A). tage in similar ways. Justo Valdez of Son
Fora vivid descriptionof the pico scene, along Palenque,for instance,states that sometimes,
with colour photographs, see Bob George's even when performing pieces in Congolese
lively article,'Picolandia!',on the WorldWide soukous style, 'I sing in our [Palenquero]lan-
Web at http://www.arcmusic.org/html/ guage and keep many of Palenque's tra-
ideas/pico.html/ ditionalelements' (Leymarie1998,P.46).
41. I myself can vouch for the popularity in 48. The ways in which Anne Zwing use music
Palenquede San Basilioof the kinds of music internationallydefined as 'Black'to identify
played on these sound systems. WhenI visited with a cosmopolitan'Blackness'may represent
Palenquein 1991,I encounteredone such pico a recent development in Colombia, but this
sound system right on the edge of the town. new sense of 'Blackness',linked to the larger
Local recordingsin an indigenised Congolese Africandiaspora,also remainsrooted in vary-
soukous style could be heardblaringfrom the ing local conceptionsof 'blackness'with long
speakersof this system hour afterhour. and complicatedhistories of their own. Peter
42. It should be noted that anotherof the earliest Wade's(1995,1998)discussionsof the complex
and most importantlocal bands to recordthis relationship between 'black' identity and
kind of champeta/terapia music, Son Palenque, music in Colombia will provide the reader
was also founded by a PalenqueroMaroon, with furtherinsightsinto the local and broader
Justo Valdez, who named the band after fields,both politicaland cultural,within which
Palenquede San Basilio.Kusimais yet another Anne Zwing and their audienceoperate.
very popular PalenqueroMaroon band pro- 49. 'Bantu'is a termsometimesused (erroneously)
ducing this kind of music. In discussing this by non-MaroonColombiansto referto Palen-
music's Maroonbackground,Leymarie(1998, quero, the unique Spanish-lexicon creole
p. 46) goes so far as to state that 'champeta spoken in Palenque (usually called simply
was createdby self-taughtmusicianswho sing 'lengua' by Palenqueros themselves).
using both the typically African phrasing of Although this language does contain a small
the San Basiliopalenqueand the community's number of words originallyfrom Kikongoor
Bantu-based[sic] dialect'. other CentralAfrican languages, there is no
43. Armin Schwegler ([n.d.]A, [n.d.]s) provides justificationfor characterisingit as a Bantulan-
evidence of a probableKikongoetymologyfor guage (see Schwegler1996).
the Palenqueroword ane'. 50. Contraryto what this passagesuggests, terapia
44. One observerof a live performanceby Anne (Spanishfor 'therapy')does not denote a 'tra-
Zwing put it this way: 'Theband's repertoire, ditional' Palenquerostyle of music or dance.
composed by Viviano, is an ingenious syn- Rather,it is used as a catch-allterm for the
thesis of all Caribbeanstyles. In a single set various mixed Afro-Caribbeanurban styles
they trot all round the sea, from Cuban salsa popular in coastal Colombia (such as those
to Haitian compas, Dominican merengue, played by Anne Zwing). The term is applied
Antilleanzouk and soca,Jamaicanreggae,and figuratively to these dance musics because
terapia from Palenque' (Shukman 1992, p. they are seen as having 'therapeutic'tension-
230). The ethnomusicologistDeborah Pacini releasingqualities(PaciniHernandez1993BX P.
Hernandez (1993B,p. 62) describes the pan- 67). Terapia(or terapiacriolla)is used inter-
African/Caribbeaneclecticismof Anne Zwing changeablywith champeta(or champetacriolla)
and other bands in this part of Colombia in to designate this urbanmusicalblend.
similarfashion:'On the north coast of Colom- 51. The standardethnographictexts on Palenque
bia, a region which is geographicallyas well de San Basilio,such as Escalante(1979 [1954])
as culturallyCaribbean,self-consciouslyAfro- and de Friedemann(1987[1979]),containvalu-
centric groups such as "Anne Zwing" have able informationon the lumbalutradition.For
begun producingtheirown hybridversionsof more in-depth backgroundon this tradition,

one should consult Schwegler(1996), which is given that the author of this article has done
the definitive study of lumbalu. Information extensive ethnographicwork among Jamaican
specificallyon the music of lumbalu may be Maroons),that young Maroonmusiciansfrom
found in ZapataOlivella (1962) and Cardenas Jamaicaare not discussed here. The reason for
Duque (1986), as well as Schwegler(1996, PP. this conspicuousabsenceis simple:to the best
88-98). See also Rouxel (1997) for a more gen- of my knowledge, Jamaican Maroon com-
eralethnomusicologicalstudy of Palenque.For munitieshave not producedany reggaebands
background on the broader coastal Afro- of their own - bands, that is, that perform
Colombiantraditionaland popularmusic cul- popular music expressive of their members'
turesin which Palenqueroshave also long par- separate identities as Maroons. There is not
ticipated,see List (1980), Lemoine (1998) and sufficient space here to discuss all the com-
Wade (1998, PP.9-15). plexities of this question;but the explanation,
52. Anne Zwing, 'Zamba Urile', from the LP I believe, lies partly in the fact that Jamaican
record El Rey del Caribe,Cartagena,Codiscos Maroons,unlike Maroons in other countries,
298 21316, 1989. Transcription by Armin encounter reggae in its original homeland,
Schwegler. For an excellent analysis of this where it is widely regardedas a nationalpos-
same lumbalusong as performedin traditional session. Since the relationship between the
settings,see Schwegler(1996, PP.225-34). The semi-autonomous Jamaican Maroon com-
term kalungais from a Kikongoword meaning munities and the nation-state within which
'the sea, the ocean,land of the dead'. The term their territoriesare located remains ambigu-
has survived in religious contexts in several ous, the use of reggae as a vehicle for the
other parts of the Americas as well, such as expression of a specific Maroon identity is
Brazil,Cuba and Jamaica.By the 1980S, only problematicin Jamaicain ways that it is not
one or two elderly lumbalu singers in elsewhere. The complex history of ethnogen-
Palenque remembered its original meaning esis that created divisions between Maroons
(see Schwegler1996, PP.283-97). and non-Maroonsin Jamaica,and the tensions
53. Gilroyknows a greatdeal aboutcontemporary caused by this process, also come into play
Afro-Caribbeanand African-Americanpopu- here (see Bilby 1984, 1994). Interestingly
lar music - particularlyin the Britishcontext- enough,more traditionalRastafarianmusic (in
and has put this knowledge to good use in his contrast to reggae) has had some impact in
earlierwork (e.g. Gilroy 1991 [1987], PP.114- specifically Maroon musical contexts in
222). It is unfortunatethat in TheBlackAtlantic Jamaica, particularly in the community of
(Gilroy1993A) he actuallypays relativelylittle Accompong, where young Maroons have
attention to vernacular music, choosing to begun to perform Rasta nyabinghi chants to
focus almostexclusivelyon 'highbrow'literary the accompanimentof their own traditional
production (although his chapter on 'Black Maroondrums (Bilby1992,p. 20).
Musicand the Politicsof Authenticity'[pp. 72- 56. The importantquestionof why reggae in par-
110] does contain some useful discussion of ticularhas come to play such a prominentrole
examplesof popularmusic). in expressing pan-Africanidentity cannot be
54. There is no lack of objectiveevidence on this discussed here, but its close associationwith
question.Technicalmusicalanalyseshave con- Bob Marley and the Rastafarimovement has
firmed the existence of such a common aes- clearly been crucial. This complex question
thetic again and again; indeed, there exists a receives some attentionin Savishinsky(1994),
venerableethnomusicologicalliteratureon the Yawney (1995)and Zips (1994).
subject, going back several decades; see, for 57. For an interesting musical analysis of the
instance,Waterman(1952), Schuller(1968, PP. sambareggaeof Bahia,showing how the basic
3-62), Lomax (1970), Pantaleoni (1979) and rhythmicstructureof reggae has served as a
Kubik(1993). 'container'into which elements of Brazilian
55. It might seem odd, given that most of the sambahave been placed, see Crook(1993,pp.
examples of new Maroonmusical expression 100-2);see also Browning(1995,pp. 132-3) on
presentedin this paper are reggae-based(and this question.
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http://www.jstor.org/stable/853637 .

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Making modernity in the

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But what of the Maroonsof today?Whatof the actual,here-and-nowMaroons,

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WailingAluku rootsin FrenchGuiana

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omy of consumption,and Frenchassimilationistpolicies are only the most promi-

Figure 1. WailingRoots,from the coverof theirfirst album. Photo:Henri Griffit.Courtesyof Wailing

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I feel Black, oh lord, in my heart

have a purely local resonance.

ee, Aluku Liba

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oh, Aluku River [i.e. the traditional Aluku territory]

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all the men shout out [in appreciation]

that's what we like

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Originals AloWou Sotc

Figure4. Coverof WailingRoots'secondalbum,Original Aloukou Soldiers, basedon an engraving

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The process of indigenisation exemplified in the foregoing songs has led to

Hard Ndyuka sounds from Suriname

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SurinameseMaroonpeoples. The ancestorsof the Ndyuka, like those of the Aluku,

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ranging from Jamaicanreggae and dancehall to CentralAfrican soukous and the

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to all bad boy, all rude boy

SUNG:send, you send, send anotherone come

and me seh one a dem come

me got to tell dem, all de raggamuffin

Fromthe opening dedication- in which the vocalist greets by name a number

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Palenquero swing from Colombia

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Mama Afrikata kucha?

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By combiningthis crypticsacredtext with the popularsocabeat,the Palenquero

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Muchof PaulGilroy'swork,andin particularTheBlackAtlantic,is concerned

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ism (and utopian inclinations)is the band's ensemble playing youth-orientedrecreational

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Anonymous. 1988.'LocalSong eigentijdsemaroon-muziek',Jeugdinformatie, April, pp. 8-9

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Thodenvan Velzen, H.U.E.,and van Wetering,W. 1988.TheGreatFatherand theDanger:ReligiousCults,