African Musical Hybridity in the Colonial Context: An Analysis of Ephraim Amu’s “Yɛn Ara Asase Ni”

This essay describes how the creative hybridity of “Yɛn Ara Asase Ni,” a choral composition by Ephraim Amu, contributed to the emergence of national consciousness in Ghana. Originally composed for a colonial holiday in 1929, this piece spread through schools, radio broadcasts, and live performances, and was heard throughout the country around the time of independence. Based on postcolonial theory, secondary sources, archival research, and interviews, I present a history and analysis of “Yɛn Ara Asase Ni” that demonstrates how it disrupted colonial categories, such as religion and culture, and prepared the way for an independence movement informed by Pan-Africanism and Christianity.