Paul Simon's Graceland

By Kalvin Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh

Celebrated, controversial, and conspicuously eclectic, Paul Simon's Gracelandstands among the monumental albums of the 20th century. This book explores how and why it made its mark, from the international collaborations that defined its musical character, to the inflamed political environment from which it emerged.

Gracelandincorporated some of South Africa's most beloved popular music traditions, including 'township jive', kwela, and the intricate isicathamiyaharmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It also featured contributions from Central and West African musicians, alongside an array of North American styles - Chicano rock, country, synth-pop, Louisiana zydeco - and, of course, Simon's characteristically abstract poetics.

This book revisits Gracelandas an important example of the global relevance of African music. Released in 1986, amid an intensified period of anti-apartheid activism across world, the album had a unique relationship to South Africa: it drew attention to apartheid and Black African music while its popular significance was simultaneously propelled by the anti-apartheid movement. As a collaborative, cross-cultural project straddling the boundaries of a deeply unequal world - economically, politically, racially - Gracelandinvites reflection on the relationship between art and politics, both then and now.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FG3FNYSQ
• ISBN13: 9798765126066
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 7.8"