In many mythologies, music is associated with the explosion of life and bursts of creativity. But it’s also used to explore the dark side of human nature: the desire to manipulate our surroundings, or to control others.

In recent years we have seen a very welcome uptick in the number of fantasy books inspired by West African folklore. The Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism movements have paved the way for Black authors across the diaspora to build worlds...