by Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga
When the Zimbabwean government imposed the 75% local content policy in 2001, young people began dominating the music scene, marking a dramatic turn in the history of Zimbabwean music and entertainment. Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga’s Music and Urban Youth Identities traces how the stipulation of the local content quota coincided with the post-2000 political and economic crises in Zimbabwe that pushed youth, especially those from low-income backgrounds – the ‘ghetto youth’ – to the margins of the country’s economy. The author shows how the youth responded to this predicament by embracing the new turn in Zimbabwean music, turning to music to try to eke out a living, and at the same time articulate their daily struggles, survival strategies and aspirations.
