Listening for Religion in Lagos: Preliminary Reflections

For three weeks in January and February 2021, a team of researchers ventured into the streets of Lagos, Nigeria to document the relationships between sound, urban space and religious institutions and practices. In this article we present an overview of the conceptual issues that shaped our investigation into sound, including questions of noise, listening and religion. We also offer preliminary reflections on what we heard, as well as share samples of some of the sounds we recorded. Finally, we offer thoughts about future iterations of this project and reflect on how projects such as ours contribute to the development of African sound studies.