“cr azy white men” 231tive approach, they still subscribe to the rather ontological formulation of
“being cosmopolitan.” If we are taking their argument seriously, I suggest
we must go a step further and ask how cosmopolitanism is actually being
done. If cosmopolitanism entails the openness to difference, then how is
t h is open ness ac t ua l ly per for med? The t h ree music ia ns’ a r t ist ic a nd ba na l
performances—such as their music, songs, video clips, as well as their
written and visual postings on social media platforms—constitute ideal
empirical objects for the study of cosmopolitanism as a form of practice.
It is through their practices, their musical and social performances, that
they actually constitute their cosmopolitan subjectivities, their “being
cosmopolitan.” Borrowing a coinage from Harvey Sacks (1984), I suggest
we actually need to observe their doing “being” cosmopolitan.
Taking into account that the musicians under consideration are not
only artists but also entrepreneurs who struggle to make a living from
their music, I propose reading their musical performances as deliberate
plays, with both difference and sameness. As I discuss, their cosmopolitan
ventures are characterized by the paradox of transcending and marking
difference at the same time. W hile their “epidermal difference” (Nava
2007: 9) makes them stick out from the masses of fellow musicians in
Africa—something which can be turned into an advantage in a competi-
tive professional environment—their performances and linguistic com-
petences signify just the opposite: sameness. Thus, they thrive on the
(un)doing of difference, and I argue that it is exactly this feature that
accounts for their popularity with African audiences, as it embodies
the cosmopolitan potential of African popular music. As they break the
boundaries of conventional categories, the three musicians demonstrate
an attitude of openness, in Hannerz’s words, “a willingness to engage with
the other.” And since at least two of them also work hard to international-
ize their music, they also provide viable links to the world outside Africa.
DIFFERENT SHADES OF WHITEMzungu Kichaa, whose real name is Espen Sørensen, was born in Den-
mark in 1980.^2 Coming to Zambia with his parents at the age of six, he
spent three years of his early childhood in rural Africa. In 1989, the family