Playlists

I often create and co-create playlists for my modules. Please find some examples (and links for listening) below.

Postcolonial theory & Politics (2020 – 2022)

Music is an important site of resistance. All of these songs relate to an anticolonial context or struggle.

Water No Get Enemy – Fela Kuti : Nigerian musician and activist who supported Pan-Africanism and socialism. A song about struggle.
Ya Rayah – Rachid Taha : Algerian revolutionary influenced by raï and punk. This song is his cover of a classic chaâbi song about exile, wandering.
Lagi; Julud – Aziza Brahim : Sahrawi musician (peoples of the disputed territory Western Sahara). Her music is about recognition and justice. These two songs are about political struggle & being a refugee.
Hawai’i ‘78 – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole : Influential musician and Hawaiian independence activist. This song expresses some of his views on Hawaiian culture.
Laxed, Siren Beat – Jawsh 685 : Samoan/ New Zealander producer. Came to fame after this song was sampled without credit by Jason Derulo. After a successful campaign on TikTok, both are now credited on the song “Savage Love”.
Kelmti Horra (My World Is Free) – Emel : Tunisian protest singer. This song (written with Amin al-Ghozzi) became very popular during the Arab Spring protests in 2011.
Hum Dekhenge – Zohaib Kazi, Ali Hamza – Modern cover of a famous poem by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz. It was a protest poem and is now a popular song of resistance across Pakistan and India. This version removed some of the original lines.
Arc-en-ciel / Papa gide bèl gason – Carole Demesmin : Haitian singer known for promoting Vodou culture and art.
Deep River – Beverly-Glenn Copeland : Live recording of a cover of a Spiritual with an anti-slavery message. He is an American/Canadian musician and queer activist.
Let’s Talk About Gender Baby – Planningtorock : Non-binary, working class musician and producer who works to bring gender politics and queer theory to dance music.
Ladaney, Woman’s Name – Dur-Dur Band : Somali disco band, many members had to flee the political situation in the 1990s. This recording was uncovered in a radio station’s archive in 2016.
Danger 2 – Ginni Mahi : Punjabi rapper whose music is about social justice and equality. This song is a sequel to “Danger Chamar”, both about caste discrimination and Babasaheb (B.R. Ambedkar).
Esteticar – Tom Zé : Musician of the Brazilian cultural and political Tropicália movement in the 1960s. This album can be understood as a critique of colonialism and capitalism.
Khosara – Abdel Halim Hafez : Very famous Egyptian singer, popular with the post-independence establishment. This song is famous in the West for copyright infringement in 1999 by Jay-Z, who was never prosecuted.
راجع تانى – Shafeqa : One of the few female artists of the Egyptian Sha’bi genre, music of working class people, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, and still popular at street weddings.

Gender Politics (Co-created with York Students 2023)

In our Gender Politics seminars, we collated relevant songs relating as a soundtrack for our seminar breaks. A lot of pop music is about gender and sexuality!

Transnational Social Movements (Work In Progress 2025)

Movements act as sites of “meaning-making”, and music is a particularly important medium for this. These songs and artists are all related to the readings and case studies covered in the module.