![]() Hip hop artists and the youth they represent are an important component of any social or political struggle towards progress. While Hip-life and Bongo Flava both contain elements of hip hop culture, the confusion over the genres can often lead to a trivialization of hip hop. As a result, the conversation around urban youth music in Accra and Dar es Salaam is often distorted. Finally, hip hop in both Accra and Dar es Salaam have often been confused with and overshadowed by the more commercialized pop music genres Hip-life and Bongo Flava, respectively. ![]() At the same time, artists often invoke the images or words of the countries’ forefathers, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, in a manner that suggests a nostalgia and reverence for the words and actions of these leaders. Hip hop artists in both cities are critically examining current government leaders. A look at hip hop artists in both Accra and Dar es Salaam reveals conversations that are occurring among youth in these countries. Hip hop’s origins lie in its use as a tool of self-expression and self-definition, allowing many artists to speak out on a host of social and political issues. ![]() The urban areas of Accra and Dar es Salaam were especially hard hit, with the aftermath providing inspiration for many hip hop lyrics. The 1980s saw the devastation of the economies of both Ghana and Tanzania due to neoliberal economic policies. Ghana and Tanzania are linked by their histories as battlegrounds in the struggle for Pan Africanism, non-alignment, and socialist ideals. "This paper looks at the use of hip hop in social and political expression in Accra, Ghana and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It also subverts the hegemonic position occupied by foreign music in the minds of postcolonial Tanzanians. And focussing on the politics of music hybridity, the article shows that music hybrids subvert both the nativistic efforts to do away with ‘foreign music’-which Western, Congolese and South African music. The article argues that it is through these transformations or reconfigurations that the travelling sounds from other cultures are able to enter into the culture of Muziki wa Injili. In this process the travelling sounds are transformed as they encounter other sounds commonly used in the new music culture. It shows that music hybridization in Muziki wa Injili takes place when musical sounds from one music culture travel through a number of cultural frontiers including temporal, spatial and genre-defined frontiers and enter into another music culture. This article examines the practice and politics of music hybridization in Muziki wa Injili (Gospel Music) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This process of commodification has created a bastardized version of hip hop culture, devoid of real ties to “authentic” hip hop culture, but a product of the creators of popular culture." In addition to calling out pop or mainstream rappers, hip hop artists in Tanzania have directed their anger at the media houses and their “commodification” of hip hop culture and transforming it into Bongo Flava, a pop music genre. In so doing, hip hop artists have called to the carpet Bongo Flava artists over questions of authenticity. By distancing themselves from Bongo Flava and calling out those that promote or represent Bongo Flava, many hip hop artists have attempted to draw a line in the proverbial sand, in an attempt to draw clear distinctions between hip hop and Bongo Flava. As Bongo Flava eclipsed hip hop in popularity, air play, and income generation, hip hop artists fought back. Tanzania is also the home of Bongo Flava, a genre of pop fusion that includes rap and R&B sung primarily in Swahili. Recognized by academics and hip hop aficionados alike, Tanzanian emcees have gained the respect of the international hip hop community for their skills, talent, and use of Swahili, a language known for its beautiful and complex poetry. This research focuses on that struggle in Tanzania, home to one of Africa’s most important hip hop communities. This struggle is for the survival of “authentic” hip hop, which is being threatened by the popularity of pop culture versions of hip hop and fusions between hip hop and other genres. "Tanzania has become one of the latest of hip hop’s communities to struggle to maintain authenticity within hip hop culture against the trends toward commercialization.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |