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Fighting Viral with Viral: The Music of the Ebola Crisis
Other | Friday 17th October 2014 | Ben
West African musicians are using their craft to combat the spread of Ebola. Artists such as Liberian Shadow Ent, F.A. and Soul Fresh are writing lyrics which aim to educate people about the effects of Ebola and how best to protect yourself.
In his song, ‘Ebola In Town’ Shadow Ent tells the people that ‘Something in town...Ebola in town’. A simple message but a crucial one. A Liberian woman told the World Health Organization that some people believed Ebola to be supernatural and inexplicable rather than a virus that can be defied. These musicians believe that explaining the nature of Ebola to the people is the first step in fighting the virus.
The second step is all about informing the communities of preventative measures against the disease. Radio is still hugely popular and influential in Western African countries - it gets played in the streets, shops, and is the best method of communicating messages to the masses. The lyrics are simple, instructive and cut through the barriers of geography, literacy and language. ‘Don’t touch your friend! No touching. No eating something , It’s dangerous!’ sing Shadow Ent. F.A and Soul Fresh, in their song ‘Ebola Is Real’. They implore people to report any symptoms they or anyone else in the community feel. The need to actively encourage people to track their health as well as the health of those around them is the overriding message. Not to mention minimizing contact with people, and always washing hands afterwards.
This surge of West African musicians doing all they can to help their countries is shining a bright light on the perceived lack of activity by celebrities from the West. Artists such as Akon and Chris Brown have been ridiculed and slated for either doing the completely wrong things to tackle or Ebola or doing nothing at all. In a recent concert in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Akon decided the best way to protect himself from Ebola was to encase himself in a large see through bubble...in which he then attempted to crowd surf (crowd roll?) with humiliating consequences. Chris Brown, in his infinite wisdom, decided to tweet to his 13.7 million followers: ‘I don't know ... But I think this Ebola epidemic is a form of population control. Shit is getting crazy bruh’ (Brown has since deleted the offending tweet). These types of images and messages are detrimental to the fight that the world is staging against Ebola. But hopefully the sounds of education and hope of the West African musicians continues to be propogated, for the sake of the health of the African community.
Check out their songs here:
