Introspections 

One sole man is never the protagonist. The group produces the man.

Ousmane Sembene

We cordially invite you to celebrate Steve Mekoudja’s new album Introspections with us. In it, he invites us to ponder with him on what it is to be a man and perhaps even, to teach him. He invites us to reflect on the customs and norms which perpetuate male dominance in the Cameroonian/West-African context and beyond, and the subsequent relegation of other ideals to the periphery. 

What do you think masculinity is? 
Do you define it based on how you saw your father?
Your grandfather?
Your mother?

Masculinity is a bookshelf, and its contents are titled simply by the characteristics which define it. What then might those titles be? Physical power, assertiveness, independence, anger, rashness, wealth? We might have an easier time identifying the titles which are situated firmly upon other non-masculine or not-masculine-enough shelves – kindness, empathy, patience, warmth, understanding. There is little negotiation about this issue in most of what is called the modern world because in it, masculinity in its traditional sense holds sovereignty. When we attempt to quantify it, we still turn to what we tend to name as its traditional definitions in order to make up its sum.

In the West-African context, it is often this call to tradition which serves as the legitimating factor of a destructive masculinity. We must question the role that colonialism and subsequently imposed religion plays in what we call our tradition. However, it does not suffice solely to critique the role of the colonizer as the progenitor of what we accept today as our “traditional” gender roles. When questioning our inherited conceptions, we must also challenge the conditions and ideas which fertilized the ground upon which they took root.

Steve Mekoudja is a computer engineer, poet, singer, producer, cook and friend. Introspections is his third release following the first, Rituals (2018), and the second, Origins (2020).

hn. lyonga is a Black, queer, interdisciplinary writer, poet, and currently the Neighbour in Residence at Gropius Bau.

Mokia Laisin is a researcher and curator at SAVVY Contemporary.