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 10 Post-war boom and post-election decline A new beginning After the shock of the January 6th invasion, Freetown’s local music scene in fact revived relatively quickly. The new millennium brought the scene to new highs. Already before the official declaration of the war’s end in January 2002, developments in the local music scene had anticipated the general mood of euphoria and expectations that came along with the conclusion of peace. The reiterated revival started in 1999 with the return of Jimmy B. (Jimmy Bangura) to Freetown. Local media often describe Jimmy B. as the “bedrock”, the “pace setter”, or even the “godfather” of new Sierra Leonean music. Sierra Leoneanborn Jimmy B. left for the US in the late 1980s. After a quite adventurous life of travel and music making in the US, the UK, and finally South Africa, he returned to Freetown and brought with him a lot of new music and marketing know-how, new digital recording equipment, and, not least, money. He set up a recording studio called Paradise Records, which became the launching pad for many young musicians. In 2000, Paradise Records released a first compilation featuring 15 different groups and artists, entitled “Best of Sierra Leone”. The album triggered what might be called the “post-war boom” of Sierra Leonean music. In a relatively short time, hundreds of new artists emerged. The numbers of locally produced, released and sold albums reached new records. A couple of thousands of music sellers – in most parts still organized in the structures of the CSA – made a relatively good living with their business. The airwaves and dance floors were soon dominated by local music. Some commentators even spoke of the music business as “one of the country’s fastest growing industries” (Graham 2007). The boom of locally produced music lasted from 2000 until its sudden decline after the general elections in 2007. The wide popularity local music and musicians enjoyed in these years is difficult to explain. A number of factors appeared to have played a role in the processes involved. The initial impulse DISCOnnections 96 Jimmy B. and his Paradise Records gave was certainly an influential factor, but not the only one. Several of my interviewees from the local music industry tried to explain the vast and sudden popularity of Jimmy B. and the musicians he fostered by pointing towards two factors: (1) the modern digital recording technology he brought into Freetown’s music scene; and (2) the strong orientation towards (many called it bluntly “copying of”) popular western music styles, mainly American hip hop and R&B and Jamaican reggae and dancehall music. The first factor, the sophisticated recording, might have well played a role in the initial popularization of Jimmy B.’s artists and their music. Compared to many local recordings of the 1990s, Jimmy B.’s productions were indeed characterized by a new and more sophisticated quality. The second explanatory factor, however, the “copying” of western music, appears rather unsustainable as Freetown’s popular musicians were successfully adopting Western popular music styles already since decades; that is, at least, since the late 1950s when many live bands started to adopt the styles of Western pop music stars. The strong orientation of Sierra Leone’s local popular musicians towards Western music, in particular the music of the (black) Atlantic, is a historical constant. A number of other, interrelated factors further added to, and facilitated, the after-war boom of Freetown’s music scene in general and of locally produced popular music in particular. Spirit of renewal With the conclusion of peace, a cautious but nevertheless tangible optimism captured most Freetonians. Michael Jackson (2004: 70-71) describes the sanguine atmosphere that prevailed shortly after the end of the war in the following way: Poda podas were called Better Days Are Coming, Human Right, and O Life at Last. A fishing boat on Lumley Beach had been named Democracy. People were wearing t-shirts saying “Forgive and Reconcile for National Development.” And everywhere there were vehicles and offices belonging to NGOs and UN agencies, with reconstruction, rehabilitation , reconciliation, and resettlement the recurring words. One could not help but be affected by the ostensible spirit of renewal. Sierra Leone embarked on a transition process. After many years of authoritarian rule, military regimes, a ruined economy, and a devastating war, expectations were high for political and socio-economic changes and a more stable future. “Peace and Nation Building” became central notions for local and international policy makers. In the implementation...

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